genres. The history of Japanese poetry involves both the evolution of Japanese as a language, the evolution of Japanese poetic forms, and the collection of poetry into anthologies, many by imperial patronage and others by the "schools" or the disciples of famous poets (or religion, in the case of the Bussokusekika). The study of Japanese poetry is complicated by the social context within which it occurred, in part because of large scale political and religious factors such as clan politics or Buddhism, but also because the collaborative aspect which has often typified Japanese poetry. Also, much of Japanese poetry features short verse forms, often collaborative, which are then compiled into longer collections, or else are interspersed within the prose of longer works. Older forms of Japanese poetry include kanshi, which shows a strong influence from Chinese literature and culture. Kanshi Kanshi literally means "Han poetry" and it is the Japanese term for Chinese poetry in general as well as the poetry written in Chinese by Japanese poets. Kanshi from the early Heian period exists in the Kaifūsō anthology, compiled in 751. Waka Waka is a type of poetry in classical Japanese literature. Unlike kanshi, waka refers to poetry composed in Japanese. Waka is sometimes also used in the more specific and restrictive sense of poetry which is in Japanese and which is also in the tanka form. The Man'yōshū anthology preserves from the eighth century 265 chōka (long poems), 4,207 tanka (short poems), one tan-renga (short connecting poem), one bussokusekika (a poem in the form 5–7–5–7–7–7; named for the poems inscribed on the Buddha's footprints at Yakushi-ji in Nara), four kanshi (Chinese poems), and 22 Chinese prose passages. However, by the time of the tenth-century Kokinshū anthology, waka had become the standard term used for short poems of the tanka form, until more recent times. Tanka Tanka is poetry of 31 characters. It is written in the rhythm of 5-7-5-7-7 in Japanese. The tanka form has shown some modern revival in popularity. As previously stated, it used to be called waka. Collaborative verse Much traditional Japanese poetry was written as the result of a process of two or more poets contributing verses to a larger piece, such as in the case of the renga form. Typically, the "honored guest" composing a few beginning lines, often in the form of the hokku (which, as a stand-alone piece, eventually evolved into the