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Paper short abstract

This paper will examine riddles and poetry—two elements of game design in the Ko-Uemon-no-Kami Tadatoshi kindachi nazo-awase of 981, where a family gathering turned into an opportunity to use waka as a technical resource to create a clever ludic experience through the combination of both elements.

Paper long abstract

On the 26th day of the fourth month of 981 an event took place known as the Ko-Uemon-no-kami Tadatoshi kindachi nazo-awase (Family of Late Captain of the Right Outer Palace Guards Fujiwara no Tadatoshi Riddle Match), where family members of the late Fujiwara no Tadatoshi (928–973) gathered and held a short riddle match with a corresponding poem supporting each riddle. Nazo-awase have appeared in literary works and records such as Sei Shonagon’s Makura no sōshi (The Pillow Book) as fiercely competitive events, but on this occasion the poems often gave away the answer to the riddle—being chanted right after the riddle was posed—raising the question: why was the game played in such a seemingly counterintuitive way?

This paper will examine elements of game design that shaped this nazo-awase to answer why it strays from the usual competitive game framework. Using C. Thi Nguyen’s theories of striving play and inscribed temporary agency that players take on during a game, the answer becomes clear that the lusory goal of stumping the opposing team with a difficult riddle became secondary to the purpose of playing: creating and appreciating clever wordplay to strengthen social bonds of the participants. This paper will also analyze the inclusion of waka in the game design of this nominal nazo-awase as a specific choice that gave players access to the poetic techniques of waka as a technical resource with which to play the game. Specifically, the use of engo, poetic associations, and kake-kotoba were the main rhetorical practices that players chose to create cleverness in their riddle and poem combinations, showcasing how the players were able to utilize and navigate their temporary limited agency for the game to pursue the purpose of playing this nazo-awase.