Five Line Poems (五行歌)
Gogyoka (Five Line Poems, 五行歌) is a new type of poetry which utilizes ancient ballads and Waka (thirty-one-syllable poems) included in "Kojiki" (The Records of Ancient Matters) and "Nihon Shoki" (The Chronicles of Japan) and is revived in modern times as prototypes of Japanese poetry. Aside from the condition that it must be written with fives lines that can each be read aloud in one breath, there are basically no rules to a five line poem. Enta KUSAKABE, who had been pursuing an original and ideal style of poetry, suggested and established this form after finding appreciation for the line-by-line breathing system. Writers of five line poems have a choice on the number of syllables, as they are free from syllabic meter rules that are essential factors in rhythm poetry such as Tanka (thirty one syllable poems) and Haiku (seventeen syllable poems). This allows writers to have creativity with each breath in their pace of words, phrases and lines, and they can lively recite the words as a poem.