Today's Tanka: Reached '100 Poems by One Person' in 3.5 Months [2026/04/14]

Reached '100 Tanka Poems a Year' in April

At the start of 2026, I listed '10 things I want to do this year', including'Writing 100 Tanka poems a year' = '100 poems by one person'.I reached this goal today, April 14th.

Since it is the 104th day of the year, that is a pace of almost one poem per day. As of February 1st, I revised the goal upward to 200 poems, and I will likely exceed that as well.

In this article, I would like to introduce the top 5 most-liked poems out of the 100 I have written this year, as well as 5 other poems I have selected myself. The full list can be found in the magazine below.

Top 5 Most-Liked Poems

1st Place... I know that working out will go to waste, yet I still can't beat the half-price magic (3/22)

The overwhelming 1st place is a piece about the lament of finding half-price ice cream at the supermarket after a workout.

It seems the empathy was unstoppable lol

2nd Place... Reluctantly, the Qingming festival passes, cherry blossom rain, the fate of falling, I gently tuck it away (4/7)

Seven poems related to cherry blossoms alone were entered.
Perhaps the scene of them starting to scatter was particularly good in this one.

3rd Place... Rainbow and rainbow, Fuji and Fuji, the road that connects them, travel is life, grateful for the connections (3/7)

Written at the conclusion of a 3,500km trip from Osaka to Aomori and Hachijojima over 2 nights and 4 days.

Apparently, this is equivalent to the distance of crossing Japan from Cape Soya in Hokkaido to Yonaguni Island in Okinawa.
a distance equivalent to crossing Japan.

I used land, sea, and air routes, climbed Hachijo-Fuji on Hachijojima, and looked down at Mount Fuji from the airplane.

And it was a tumultuous journey where I dropped my wallet in Aomori but it was immediately picked up by a kind local. Being the very end of that, it is filled with deep emotion.

4th Place... Shoveling down a bento in the underground mall, 3 PM, I got energy from a saleswoman (4/9)

It is exactly as I wrote it. I am happy if her positivity was conveyed. The Gemini illustration also did a great job.

It was funny that on the same day, I encountered a completely different saleswoman eating a corn dog (probably from a convenience store) while walking.

5th Place... Unhealthy, right after finishing the medical checkup, the contradiction of a person having a lunch beer (3/26)

The contradiction of having a beer in the middle of the day right after a health check might be the essence of being in my late 40s.

Is that such a big deal? lol

Five self-selected poems

RikuRyu's seven-year journey, tears of gold, I cried along with them, the pinnacle of pairs (2/17)

Just by reciting it, that famous scene comes back...

While writing this article, I saw the news that the RikuRyu pair made a surprise appearance at an entrance ceremony, making it the commemorative 100th poem.

An over-50 with weak tear ducts, I cried again orz

Sometimes, it's okay to have a day like this, what day is it today? It's Shisa Day (4/3)

A poem born on 4/3 after hearing from a mutual follower that 'today is Shisa (4/3) Day'.

It's okay to have a Tanka like this, right? lol

Though the calendar says March 9th has passed, yesterday was my Remio anniversary (3/14)

Written about the emotion of hearing Remio Remio's graduation song 'March 9th' for the first time and singing it at karaoke. I seriously couldn't stop the tears...

Never think your knees and lower back will be fine forever, over-50s hiking, the body is honest (3/7)

Probably overwhelming empathy from my generation...

Even a monkey can reflect, past 3 AM, gazing at the night cherry blossoms under a crescent moon (4/11)

A poem from 3 AM, after drinking too much, falling asleep at ChocoZAP karaoke, and returning home in a daze.

It's nothing more and nothing less than that lol

Conclusion

Looking back, my works can mainly be categorized into 'scenes,' 'things that moved my heart,' and 'my own experiences.'

Tanka is incredibly stimulating to my creativity and truly fun. If travel and karaoke are 'active' hobbies, Tanka is a 'passive' one.

I look forward to seeing what kind of works will be born in the remaining 261 days of this year.