It is thought that the 20 volumes of the Manyoshu were not edited as one unit, but rather smaller sets of volumes were edited consistently but separately, the sets being drawn together to form the whole.
全二十巻であるが、首尾一貫した編集ではなく、何巻かずつ編集されてあったものを寄せ集めて一つの歌集にしたと考えられている。