Tadakoe no kono michi ni shite oshiteru ya naniwa no umi to nazukekerashi mo

直越のこの道にしておしてるや
難波の海と名付けけらしも

Roma-ji: Tadakoe no kono michi ni shite oshiteru ya naniwa no umi to nazukekerashi mo
English Translation: The Straight Crossing,
it was on this very road—
"sea of dazzling light,"
"the sea of Naniwa," so
they named it, it would appear
Meaning: It must have been from this very road, the Straight Crossing, that people named it "the dazzling sea of Naniwa."
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 977

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by Kamikoso no Imiki Oyumaro when crossing Mount Kusaka, in the fifth year, the year of mizunoto-tori"
The poem reflects that it must have been from this very road, the Straight Crossing, looking down, that people came to call it "the dazzling sea of Naniwa." It is the second of two poems composed by Kamikoso no Oyumaro when he crossed Mount Kusaka in Tenpyō 5 (733). The Straight Crossing was the road that went directly from Yamato over the Ikoma hills to Naniwa, passing Mount Kusaka.
"Oshiteru ya" is a pillow word for Naniwa, understood to mean "shining all over." Looking down from the pass at the sea of Naniwa glittering everywhere in the sunlight, the poet is convinced that the old pillow word must have come from this view. It is a poem of the joy of discovery that links the scene before his eyes with the origin of a word.
The poet, Kamikoso no Oyumaro, was an official of the Nara period whose hereditary title was Imiki. Little is known of his career.

With the preceding poem, 976, this poem forms a pair of two poems on the sea of Naniwa seen from Mount Kusaka. Where the preceding poem wished to tell the wife at home about the ebb-tide scene of "Naniwa's flats," this poem turns to the origin of the pillow word for "the sea of Naniwa," catching the same view from two directions, an intimate feeling and the origin of an old name.
The first line, "The Straight Crossing," is the name of the road that crosses the hills straight to Naniwa.
The second line, "it was on this very road," means "on this road." "Ni shite" indicates place, carrying the sense that it is precisely because of the view from this road.
The third line, "sea of dazzling light," is the pillow word "oshiteru ya," which modifies "Naniwa." Understood to mean shining all over, it is shown to have its origin in the light-filled sea seen from the pass.
The fourth line, "the sea of Naniwa," is quoted, together with its pillow word, as a single name. Alongside "Naniwa's flats" in the preceding poem, the two poems share the place name Naniwa.
The final line, "they named it, it would appear," means "it seems they named it so." "-kerashi" is an auxiliary that infers a past matter from evidence, and "mo" is exclamatory. He grasps, through the scene before him, why people of old gave it that name.
Author: Kamikoso no Oyumaro
Source: Manyoshu
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