They say today is hyakunin isshu no hi (百人一首の日), Day of one hundred poets, one poem each. On May 27, 1235, Fujiwara no Teika(藤原定家：1162-1241) who is a very famous poet in Japanese history chose 100 poems from 100 poets and made an anthology called Ogura Hyakunin Isshu(小倉百人一首). It also refers to the card game called karuta(かるた) which uses a deck composed of poems from the anthology. Karuta has been popular since the Edo period. There are many ways to play karuta. There are also karuta contests in many places throughout Japan.
The Hyakunin Isshu has been translated into many languages and into English many times since 1907.
Japanese people study these poems at schools and enjoy karuta in the new years. Even if they get older, they still remember some of 100 poems from the Hyakunin isshu.
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