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Hyakkakan-Circle of a Hundred Songs
A video art series reinterpreting the Hyakunin Isshu through contemporary calligraphy
Hyakkakan transforms all of the Hyakunin Isshu into Manyōgana and re-composes them into a cycle interwoven with natural rhythms and human emotions. First presented at the TSUBASA KIMURA Museum in Osaka in 2014, it opened a new direction for calligraphy by fusing script, text, and cosmology.
【Venue Photographs】
This work was presented at the group exhibition Seven Designers Exhibition (2014) held at the TSUBASA KIMURA Museum in Osaka.
By projecting “moving calligraphy” onto monitors designed in the form of shōji screens and hanging scrolls, the space became one in which stillness and motion, tradition and digital media, intersected.
It was an experimental structure, realised through the interplay of calligraphy and video, in which waka poetry and nature, thought and emotion, encountered each other gently within the cyclical flow of time.
The Hyakunin Isshu anthology was reclassified according to the seasonal sensibilities of the Twenty-Four Solar Terms (nijūshi sekki) and Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions (shichijūni kō).
The words corresponding to each calendrical period were rendered in either kanji or man’yōgana (ancient phonetic kanji usage).
Guided by the philosophy of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, each poem was assigned to a single season, with four poems representing the cycle of a year.
In its entirety, the video formed a sequence of twenty-five such seasonal cycles, comprising one hundred poems.As the “spring–summer–autumn–winter” cycle repeated every twenty-five poems, the thirty-sixth poem marked a special calendrical threshold.
Here, I overlaid my own sense of renewal, portraying a singular moment of seasonal transition.
The video was created in collaboration with filmmakers Nomu and Hon Yuma.
Each “one poem, one season” composition was brought to life through light and movement, giving visual form to its poetic imagery.。
Works No.26–30
Video
Commentary
[Structure] (An example of interpretation; such playful transformations were applied across all 100 poems.)
No.28
Yamazato wa / fuyu zo sabishisa / masarikeru / hitome mo kusa mo / karenu to omoeba
(By Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason)
→ 「山里は（者）ふゆそ（曽）さみ”始（し）”さ（佐）まさりけ（介）る ひと”鳴（め）”もくさも”蛙（か）”れぬとおもへば（八）」
(...) denotes hentaigana; “…” denotes shichijūni kō (in man’yōgana usage)
Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions: Kawazu hajimete naku (Frogs begin to sing) — Summer (Kyūreki, traditional lunar calendar)
Yin-Yang & Five Elements: Summer (Red) / Sun (South)
Works No.31–34
Video
Commentary
No.31
No.33
No.32
No.34
[Structure]
(...) denotes hentaigana; “…” denotes shichijūni kō (in man’yōgana usage or on’yomi/kun’yomi readings)
No.31
Asaborake / ariake no tsuki to / miru made ni / Yoshino no sato ni / fureru shirayuki
(By Sakanoue no Korenori)
→ 「あさほらけ（介）有”鳴（なく／めい＝明）”の”告（つ）”き”と（鳥）”み（三）るまてに（二）よ”春（し）”ののさとに（尓）ふれ（連）るし（志）らゆき」
Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions: Shunkodori naku (The bush warbler sings) — Spring
Yin-Yang & Five Elements: Spring (Blue) / Sun (East)
No.32
Yamakawa ni / kaze no kaketaru / shigarami wa / nagare mo aenu / momiji narikeri
(By Harumichi no Tsuraki)
→ 「山川に風のかけ（介）”出（た）”るしか（可）ら”美（み）”はなか（可）れも（毛）あへぬも”美（み）”ちな（那）りけ（介）り（里）」
Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions: Mimizu izuru (Earthworms appear) — Summer
Yin-Yang & Five Elements: Summer (Red) / Sun (South)
No.33
Hisakata no / hikari nodokeki / haru no hi ni / shizugokoro naku / hana no chiruramu
(By Ki no Tomonori)
→ 「ひさか（可）たの光の（能）とけ（介）き（支）春の日に（二）しつこころなく花のちるらむ」
Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions: Higurashi naku (Cicadas sing in the cool of evening) — Autumn
Yin-Yang & Five Elements: Autumn (White) / Sun (West)
No.34
Tare o kamo / shiru hito ni semu / Takasago no / matsu mo mukashi no / tomo naranaku ni
(By Fujiwara no Okikaze)
→ 「たれを”香（か）”もしる人に（尓）”盞（せ）”むた（多）か（可）さ”金（こ）”の（能）まつもむか（可）しのとも（毛）ならな（那）くに（二）」
Seventy-Two Seasonal Divisions: Kinsenka saku (Marigolds bloom) — Winter
Yin-Yang & Five Elements: Winter (Black) / Sun (North)