 As the makurakotoba became standardized and used as a way to follow Japanese poetic traditions, many were used only as decorative phrases in poems and not for their meanings.Many translators of waka poems have a difficult time with the makurakotoba because although the makurakotoba makes up the first line, many makurakotoba have no substantial meaning, and it is impossible to discard the whole first line of a waka.There are many instances of "makurakotoba" found in the "Man'yōshū".