Spirit Pacification in Imperial Waka Anthologies: The Senzai wakashū and Shinkokin wakashū

For imperial waka anthologies (chokusenshū), the first and foremost purpose of compilation was to extol the reign of the emperor who commissioned the collection. However, as times changed, spirit pacification (chinkon) also came to be included in the rubric of compilation. This article examines the process by which spirit pacification came to take on such an important role in these collections, and how this goal was achieved in particular imperial anthologies. Specifically, the article focuses on the Senzai wakashū, which was the first of the imperial anthologies to include spirit pacification among its major themes, as well as the Shinkokin wakashū, which distinguishes itself from other imperial anthologies in the way the subject matter of spirit pacification was executed.