However, without setting a specific leading character like "Ise Monogatari," this literary work collects narratives relating to waka poems and uta-monogatari consisting of a series of poems composed by real people like emperors, nobles, Buddhist priests in those days, each of which is compiled in a chapter.
しかし『伊勢物語』とは異なり統一的な主人公はおらず、各段ごとに和歌にまつわる説話や、当時の天皇・貴族・僧ら実在の人物による歌語りが連なった歌物語の集成となっている。