よろづの言の葉とぞ
Countless leaves of words
Dimensions variable
2025
サイズ可変
2025年
(「和歌のまち三島」を市内外にPRする三島市観光協会の企画)
三嶋千句のうち三十八句が、ひらがなで一文字ずつ配置されています。蓄光性の素材が用いられており、日暮れにぼんやりと光を放ちます。
和歌の特徴として、整えられた音のつながりが挙げられます。五七五の発句と七七の脇句、長句と短句の交互の構成、掛詞、縁語、枕詞、押韻といった表現技法を通して、凝縮した感情や情景を思い浮べることができます。
ここでは、そのような和歌の持つ特徴が、ひらがなで一文字ずつ適度な距離を保ちながら配置されることで、「見る」という鑑賞行為に置き換えられます。一文字ずつひらがなを目で追うことで、音と言は結びつき、様々な情景が立ち現れることでしょう。
古今伝授と三嶋千句
古今和歌集（古今集）は、醍醐天皇の命により作られた、日本で最初の勅撰和歌集です。 古今伝授とは、古今集の解釈（当時は記されていなかった清濁や句読点などを付けた読み方、語義や語釈）を、師から弟子へ秘伝というかたちで、後世へ伝えたものです。
東常緑から宗祇への古今伝授は、二度に分けて行われ、一度目は三島（願成寺）で行われたと言われています。
古今伝授（一度目）の際、東常緑の息子が病気になったため、宗祇が発句｢なべて世の風を治めよ神の春｣を、三島明神（三嶋大社）に奉納したところ、回復に向かったため、報賽のため、3日間で千句を吟じたと、「宗祇独吟千句（三嶋千句）」の後書きに書かれています。
宗祇がその伝授による講釈の聞書を整理した『古今和歌集両度聞書』の冒頭には、｢やまと歌は、人の心を種として、よろづの言の葉とぞなれりける｣とあり、和歌の本質を講説されていることがわかります。
Thirty-eight waka poems from the Mishima Senku anthology are rendered in hiragana, with each character placed thoughtfully across the floor.
The phosphorescent material softly glows at dusk, allowing the words to surface from memory into presence.
Classical Japanese poetry is distinguished by its intricate use of language—featuring alternating long and short lines, kakekotoba (pivot words), engo (associative words), makurakotoba (epithetic phrases), rhyme, and a refined cadence of sound. These techniques compress emotion and imagery into a lyrical form that resonates beyond the verbal.In this installation, such poetic devices are reimagined in spatial terms. Each hiragana character maintains a subtle distance from the next, inviting the viewer to read not only with the eyes, but also with a sense of sound and rhythm. Through this act of visual reading, poems unfold like whispered scenes—ephemeral, yet luminous.
Kokin Transmission and the Mishima Senku
The Kokin Wakashū (“Collection of Ancient and Modern Japanese Poetry”) was the first imperially commissioned anthology of waka, compiled by imperial order under Emperor Daigo.The Kokin Transmission (Kokin Denju) refers to the secret oral tradition by which the interpretations of the Kokinshū—including nuances such as voicing, punctuation, and word meanings—were passed from master to disciple.
One of the most renowned transmissions was from Higashibōjō Tokiyuki to Sōgi, which is said to have taken place in two parts, the first in Mishima at Ganjōju-in Temple.
During this first session, Tokiyuki’s son fell gravely ill. Sōgi offered a waka to Mishima Myōjin (the deity of Mishima Taisha), praying for his recovery:"Let the winds of the world be stilled—springtime of the gods."The child recovered, and in gratitude, Sōgi composed one thousand verses over three days—a sequence later known as the Sōgi Dokugin Senku (Mishima Senku), as recorded in its colophon.
At the beginning of Kokin Wakashū Ryōdo Kikigaki—Sōgi’s transcription of the oral commentary—appears the line:"Yamato poetry arises from the seeds of the human heart, and from there, becomes countless leaves of words."This phrase speaks to the essence of waka as a poetic embodiment of emotion, thought, and the ineffable connection between language and life.
Related URL：https://ryoshimizu.jp/mishimasenku/