Renga

Renga (, linked poem) is a genre of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ku (句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units or syllables per line) are linked in succession by multiple poets. Known as tsukuba no michi ( The Way of Tsukuba) after the famous Tsukuba Mountain in the Kantō region, the form of poetry is said to have originated in a two-verse poetry exchange by Yamato Takeru and later gave birth to the genres haikai () and haiku ().

Japanese poet

was the first imperial anthology of renga. The collection was compiled by Nijō Yoshimoto. Provincial lord Sasaki Takauji played an active role in its production with 81 of his poems appearing in the final version. In addition to courtly renga, the anthology contains, in Book 19, the earliest known collection of haikai no renga.