Kajin (Waka or Tanka Poets) (歌人)

"Kajin" is a Japanese term used to refer to poets who write waka (a traditional Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables) or tanka (thirty-one-syllable poem). However, it is usually used to mean poets who are actively engaged in writing and publishing their works by some means. The society of tanka poets is sometimes called kadan (the world of tanka poets).

After modern times, there has been a tendency for many tanka poets to belong to an association as association literature has been common, and they publish their works in their own association magazines. On the other hand, there are many poets who specialize in contributing their poems to the readers' columns in newspapers and so on, and the term 'contributing tanka poets' has gained wide recognition. Recently, there are 'online tanka poets' who publish their poems on homepages and blogs on the Internet.

[Original Japanese]