Iroha

Iroha (いろは, Iroha ^?) is a Japanese poem, probably written in the Heian period (794–1179 AD. c.). The first record of its existence dates from the year 1079 and presents a structure of verses of 7 and 5 syllables. The iroha is distinguished by being a perfect pangram, since it uses each and every kana exactly once (with the exception of ん [-n], which would be added to the syllabary later). For this reason, this poem has been used as an arrangement of the Japanese syllabary until its reforms during the Meiji era (late XIX< century).

Originally, the poem was attributed to the monk Kūkai, the founder of the Shingon esoteric Buddhist sect in Japan, who is also credited with inventing the kana script, but this was unlikely, as it is believed that in his day There were separate sounds for the e in the a and ya columns of the kana table. The character え (e) in the poem would have read ye, leaving the pangram incomplete. Furthermore, recent research has shown that the date of the poem's composition was in the late Heian period.

The word いろは (iroha) is also used as "the ABC" or "basic things" in Japanese.