Yamato-uta is a traditional Japanese poetic form consisting of 31 syllables in a 5-7-5-7-7 pattern.
In the Heian period, Japanese poems came to be valued more highly than Chinese poems.
Standard kanji spelling for the classical Japanese poetic form.
Alternate kanji spelling using the older character 倭 for Yamato; less common in modern usage.
Compound of 大和 (Yamato, ancient name for Japan) and 歌 (uta, song/poem), literally 'Japanese poem'. The term arose to distinguish native poetry from Chinese-style poetry (唐歌) during the Heian period.