In his work An Introduction to the History of Japanese Literature, Kato Shuichi observes that Saigyo's waka poetry communicates his emotions and experiences in a simple and direct language, which differs from the technical style of Fujiwara no Teika, an important poet in the Shinkokin Wakashu. At the same time, Kato argues that several of Saigyo's poems address the topic of kachofugetsu (“the beauty of nature”), which is the central theme of the aristocratic culture, similar to the poems written by court intellectuals in the Heian era; according to Kato, Saigyo submitted to this elite culture. In this essay, the author first questions this criticism of Saigyo, emphasizing the unique consideration of natural phenomena and ordinary lives in his poems and discussing the diversity of his writing by citing his works on natural phenomena, such as lunar eclipses and rainbows, and his poems about thieves—topics that did not interest poets before him. The essay notes that Saigyo enjoyed writing haikai verses, which were regarded as somewhat inferior “miscellany” poems in the Kokin Wakashu, and renga, which poets had composed as a hobby since the late Heian period, and considers the nature of the humor in these poems to emphasize Saigyo's critique of society. (View PDF for the rest of the abstract.)
