collection of waka poems; poetry anthology
Primarily refers to a compiled collection of waka (classical Japanese poetry), such as the imperial anthologies. Also used more broadly for any anthology of poems.
See also: 和歌
The Kokin Wakashū is the first imperial anthology of waka.
She compiled her tanka and published a poetry collection.
songbook; collection of songs
Can refer to a book of songs or lyrics, though 歌集 is less common for modern popular music; 曲集 or ソングブック may be used instead.
This songbook contains many famous Showa-era songs.
In his later years, he compiled his own anthology of poems.
She published her first poetry anthology.
This book is a poetry anthology by Yosano Akiko.
曲集 is the usual term for a collection of musical pieces or songs, whereas 歌集 in this sense is less common and mainly used for classical or folk song collections.
家集 (also read かしゅう) is a personal anthology of one poet's own waka, while 歌集 is the general term for any waka anthology, often compiled from many poets.
句集 is a published collection of haiku, while 歌集 is a collection of tanka poems, so the two are easily confused despite covering different poetic forms.
counter for books; counter for volumes · volume; book
imperial anthology of waka poetry
Compound of 歌 (uta, 'song, poem') and 集 (shū, 'collection'). The reading かしゅう is the on'yomi of both characters.