Buddhist Poetry and Modernity
As Japan reached the era of industrialized modernity, many of the poets of the Meiji period started to experiment with the European styles of poetic composition. Some poets, notably Miyazawa Kenji – a devout Buddhist, who expressed his convictions in his poetry and fiction – often composed poems with Buddhist overtones. His Ame ni mo Makezu (雨ニモマケズ) is known to practically every Japanese today. Miyazawa Kenji revered the Lotus Sutra 妙法蓮華經, which lent its theme to the poem (Chapter 14: Peaceful and Joyous Deeds / Jp. Anrakugyō 安楽行).
A Modern Indian Sanskrit poet, Vanikavi Dr. Manomohan Acharya wrote Sri Gautama Buddha Panchakam in simple and lucid Sanskrit through lyrical style. Ultimately, everyone who learns Japanese today would be familiar with the Iroha poem. Originally written in man'yōgana and attributed to Kūkai, this Buddhist poem contains every kana precisely once, and is learned in Japanese primary schools mainly for this reason. Many old-style Japanese dictionaries adhere to the Iroha order.
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