The imayo (popular style of song during the Heian period), a popular music among common people, which was based on the seven-and-five syllable meter and four phrases and sung by shirabyoshi, female entertainer (who was often a yujo [a prostitute]), was loved by the noble society.
当時の民間の流行歌謡であり、白拍子という女性芸人（しばしば遊女を兼ねた）のうたう七五調四句を基調とする今様も貴族社会でもてはやされた。