Man'yōshū: the oldest anthology in Japanese, c.
785, 20 manuscript scrolls, 4,516 poems (when the tanka envoys to the various
chōka are numbered as separate poems),
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was probably the last to edit the Man'yōshū. It is not organized in any particular way (most
metadata is supplied by headnotes), and the poems are written in a Japanese version of the Chinese monosyllabic pronunciation for the Chinese characters.[6][7]
Imperial waka anthologies: anthologies as a national project. Each anthology reflected the taste of time and with loyal dignity became canons for contemporaries and those who followed. The earliest three anthologies are often called Sandaishū, Three Major Anthologies, and earliest eight Hachidaishū, Eight Major Anthologies. Twenty one Imperial anthologies were created: they are collectively known as the Nijūichidaishū.
Most waka poets had their own anthologies edited by themselves or by others. Some of these are sources of the imperial anthologies.
Hitomarokashū: an anthology of
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro works. The editor is unknown. Perhaps edited in the early Heian period. Many misattributed waka are included.
Tsurayukishū: an anthology of
Ki no Tsurayuki works, one of editors of Kokin Wakashū.
Kintōshū: an anthology of
Fujiwara no Kintō, the editor of Wakan Rōeishū. It gave influence to the waka poetry in the middle Heian period.
Hyakunin Isshu, or more precisely Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: edited by
Fujiwara no Teika. Till Meiji it had been read as elementary book for waka poets.
Imperial anthologies: advancing the Imperial waka anthologies, the earliest imperial anthologies gathered Kanshi, the Chinese poetry which Japanese learned from the
Tang dynasty. Three anthologies were edited in the early
Heian period:
^Teele, Nicholas J. “Rules for Poetic Elegance. Fujiwara No Kintō’s ‘Shinsen Zuinō’ & ‘Waka Kuhon.’” Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 31, no. 2, 1976, pp. 145–64. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/2384458. Accessed 22 Dec. 2023.
^Konishi, Jin’ichi, et al. “Association and Progression: Principles of Integration in Anthologies and Sequences of Japanese Court Poetry, A. D. 900-1350.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 21, 1958, pp. 67–127. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.2307/2718620. Accessed 22 Dec. 2023.