A typical full-length renga contains 100 verses.
This standard form is called hyakuin renga, literally “100-verse linked poetry.” Renga is a collaborative Japanese poetic form in which multiple poets alternate stanzas, traditionally linking 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora patterns. Each verse responds to the immediately preceding one, so the poem develops through shifting associations rather than a single continuous argument.
A full sequence begins with the hokku, a 5-7-5 opening verse that reflects the gathering’s season and location. It is followed by the wakiku and many additional linked stanzas, ending with the ageku, or final verse. The opening hokku later became the historical ancestor of the standalone haiku.
The number 36 is a common source of confusion because kasen, a popular Edo-period renga form, has 36 verses. Other renga formats could be shorter, longer, or even extremely extended, but when a quiz asks for a typical full-length renga, 100 is the conventional answer.