In Praise of Japan

by Emperor Jomei

In Praise of Japan

 
"The land of Yamato
Has mountains in numbers
But peerless among them
Is high Kaguyama.
I stand on its summit
My kingdom to view.
The smoke from the land-plain
Thick rises in air,
The gulls from the sea-plain
By fits soar aloft.
O land of Yamato!
Fair Akitsushima!
Dear art thou to me!"

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Notes

No. 2 from Man'yōshū, is attributed to Emperor Jomei.

Source: A History of Japanese Literature, 1899, by W.G. Aston, William Heineman, London. See: Open Library.