Osaka/Kansai Expo: Reiwa Manyo Grand Tea Ceremony at Asuka

The Manyo Grand Tea Ceremony Executive Committee held the “Reiwa Manyo Grand Tea Ceremony at Asuka” at the Osaka/Kansai Expo venue on June 6.

The “Manyoshu” is Japan’s oldest anthology of waka poetry, comprising 20 volumes with approximately 4,500 poems. There are various interpretations due to duplicated poems, making an exact count debatable. The anthology was compiled purely on the merit of the poems, irrespective of the authors’ statuses or gender, and includes poems expressing resentment towards authority or using dialects. The volumes are organized by themes such as love poems, elegies, miscellaneous poems, metaphorical poems, and regional people’s songs, with the final poem, number 4,516, attributed to the compiler Otomo no Yakamochi in Inaba Province.

The “Reiwa Manyo Grand Tea Ceremony” is an event held yearly since 2020, traveling to places connected to Otomo no Yakamochi. It has visited Takaoka City in Toyama Prefecture, Tottori City in Tottori Prefecture, Dazaifu City in Fukuoka Prefecture, and Tagajo City in Miyagi Prefecture, concluding in the Kansai region.

A 3D mapping recreation of the “Plum Blossom Banquet,” which inspired the “Reiwa” era name, was held alongside a grand tea ceremony with participants in local Manyo attire. After a greeting by Seitaro Hattori, Governor of Fukuoka Prefecture, Machiko Satonaka, Executive Committee Chairperson, delivered a lecture on the “Charm of Manyoshu,” followed by tea ceremonies and waka poetry recitations.

In the second part at the EXPO Arena Matsuri, the “Reiwa Manyo Festival” was conducted, showcasing festivals from Manyo regions such as the Saitama Dragon Festival from Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture, and the Shan Shan Umbrella Dance from Tottori City, Tottori Prefecture. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba also delivered a message.