【Feature Exhibition 2】Poets of Chikushi District Jan. 15, 2020 (Wed) ~ Mar. 15. 2020(Sun)

Out of what feeling, people created poems in this area?

しらぬひの筑紫の綿は身に着けていまだは着ねど暖けく見ゆ
“Although I haven’t worn a cloth made out of cotton created in Tsukushi, Shiranui area, it appears to me that it must be really warm.”

It is getting more and more difficult to leave the house as it gets colder and colder. The poem above was extracted from the Manyo-shu, an anthology of ancient Japanese poems created in the 7th century. The poet who created it, Shamisenmai, was responsible for constructing the Kanzeonji temple in Dazaifu. In the Manyoshu, there are some more poems composed in the Tsukushi area and many of the authors such as Kakinomotono Hitomaro, Ootomo no Tabito were representatives of Japanese literature back then.
It is not only Manyo-shu from the Nara period which contains poems created in the Tsukushi area. In the “Tale of the Genji”, there is a character called Tamakazura, who spent her childhood in the Tsukushi area with her nanny.
The Heike family, who reached Dazaifu after defeating the Genpei battle, was said to have created linked poems in the area.
Numerous ancient people who visited the Tsukushi area created poems in a various places. Why did they come here and how did they spend their lives here? Please join us in investigating the background of the ancient poems created in the Tsukushi area.