Completed in 759, the Man’yōshū (literally, “Anthology of Myriad Leaves”) is Japan’s oldest extant poetic anthology. Consisting of twenty volumes and over 4,500 poems, the collection is considered by many to be the true embodiment of the Japanese poetic spirit. Three major poetic genres can be found in the Man’yōshū, namely sōmonka (poems exchanged between lovers), zōka (poems presented at banquets and while travelling), and banka (poems composed on the occasion of someone’s death). Although the final stages of the Man’yōshū were completed in the mid-eighth century by poet and statesman ?tomo-no-Yakamochi (718-785), the process of compiling the anthology took place over several decades. Some of the oldest poems in the Man’yōshū are attributed to emperors who reigned in the fifth century. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Man’yōshū was considered a “people’s anthology” because the poems in the anthology were composed by people from all walks of life—emperors, aristocrats, officials, diplomats, performers, soldiers, and commoners. Also, while the Man’yōshū is extolled as the repository of the traditional Japanese spirit, the collection was influenced by Chinese writing and culture in numerous ways. Aside from the literary value of the poems, the Man’yōshū provides a lens into the life, customs, and values of eighth century Japan.