Sumeroki no tōmiyo miyo wa ishiki ori ki nomiki to iu zo kono hohogashiwa

皇祖の遠御代御代はい重き折り
酒飲みきといふぞこのほほがしは

Roma-ji: Sumeroki no tōmiyo miyo wa ishiki ori ki nomiki to iu zo kono hohogashiwa
English Translation: In the far-off reigns,
reign upon reign of emperors,
laid and folded thus,
they drank their sake, it is said,
from this very hoho leaf
Meaning: In the reigns of the emperors long ago, they say, people layered and folded these leaves and drank sake from them—this very hoho leaf.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4205

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems on seeing hoho leaves that had been pulled down and broken off"
Answering Ekō, who likened the leaf to a blue silk parasol in the preceding poem, Yakamochi tells its history: in the reigns of the emperors of long ago, it is said, people folded these hoho leaves together and drank sake from them.
Citing the old custom of using leaves as vessels, he finds in a humble leaf a link to the ancient court. The left note reads "the Governor, Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi." The last line is hypermetric.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line, "sumeroki no" (of the emperors): "sumeroki" means the line of sovereigns, carrying time back to the distant past.
Second line, "tōmiyo miyo wa" (in reign after reign of old), repeats "miyo" (reign) to convey a long passage of time.
Third line, "ishiki ori" (layering and folding): "i" is a prefix and "shiku" means to stack, showing the leaves layered and folded into a vessel.
Fourth line, "ki nomiki to iu zo" (they drank sake, it is said): "ki" is an old word for sake, the second "ki" marks the past, and "zo" emphasizes that this is handed down as tradition.
Fifth line, "kono hohogashiwa" (this hoho leaf), is hypermetric and ends with the same "hohogashiwa" as the third line of the preceding poem, matching the two poems.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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