1,300-Year-Old Love Poem at Sumiyoshi Shrine, Osaka

About the Poet

This poem comes from the Man'yoshu's vast collection of anonymous works, representing the voices of ordinary people from Nara-period Japan (710-794 CE). Unlike the aristocratic poets whose names were preserved, these anonymous contributors included commoners, frontier guards, and provincial residents whose emotional lives found expression in Japan's oldest poetry anthology. The Man'yoshu, meaning 'Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves,' was compiled around 759 CE and contains over 4,500 poems spanning roughly a century of Japanese literary development. Anonymous poems like this one are precious windows into how everyday people experienced love, nature, and longing during an era when Nara served as Japan's magnificent capital. The city's cosmopolitan atmosphere, influenced by Tang Dynasty China, fostered an unprecedented flowering of poetry and arts. For travelers visiting Nara and Osaka today, these anonymous voices remind us that the landscapes we admire stirred the same emotions in hearts beating over 1,200 years ago.

Sumiyoshi Shrine, Osaka

Sumiyoshi Taisha in Osaka stands as one of Japan's most ancient and revered Shinto shrines, founded in the 3rd century. Famous for its distinctive 'Sumiyoshi-zukuri' architectural style—the oldest shrine design predating Buddhist influence—the vermillion structures rise dramatically against surrounding pine forests. The shrine's iconic arched Sorihashi Bridge, reflected in sacred ponds, creates quintessential Japanese scenery. Spring brings cherry blossoms and atmospheric morning mists, while summer's Sumiyoshi Matsuri (July 30-August 1) ranks among Osaka's grandest festivals. Visit early morning to experience the mystical quality celebrated in ancient poetry. The shrine is easily accessible via the Nankai Main Line to Sumiyoshi Taisha Station. Don't miss the stone lantern-lined pathways and the serene pine grove stretching toward where the ancient coastline once met the sea.

Understanding the Poem

This Man'yoshu poem masterfully weaves landscape and longing into a meditation on shared beauty. The poet gazes upon Sumiyoshi's famous pine-covered shore, where spring mists soften the boundary between sea and sky. The phrase 'ube imo ga hoshi' ('truly my beloved desires this') transforms mere scenery into emotional territory—the beauty is so profound that the poet understands instinctively why an absent lover would yearn for this place. The poem operates on multiple levels: it celebrates a specific sacred landscape, expresses love through shared aesthetic appreciation, and suggests that certain places possess a beauty that transcends individual experience. The mist serves as both literal atmospheric phenomenon and metaphor for the veiled quality of memory and desire. For Nara-period Japanese, Sumiyoshi held deep spiritual significance as home to sea deities, adding layers of sacredness to this already evocative scene.

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