In regard to the choka above, many theories, such as that of Mokichi SAITO, used to purport that Hitomaro had many wives and mistresses, but recent theories generally assert that he composed these poems as love stories, not on the basis of his own real-life experiences.
かつては多くの妻妾を抱えていたものと思われていたが（たとえば斎藤茂吉）、近時は恋物語を詠んだもので、人麻呂の実体験を歌にしたものではないとの理解が大勢である。