Ariwara no Narihira

• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Waka Poet / Painter
  • Family: Prince Abo (father) Ariwara no Munehari (son) Ariwara no Yukihira (brother) Ōe no Chisato (nephew)
  • Birth: 825
  • Death: 880

Ariwara no Narihira

Ariwara no Narihira (在原 業平) was a renowed poet and painter from the early Heian Period living from 825 to 880.⁴

Many stories have grown up around him saying that he was an rather legendary lover, the Tales of Ise account many tales both historical and ficitional about him.¹ Some also credit him as the author of the Tales of Ise⁴⁵ and in addition his poems used in this book were used as a manual for the study of poetry.⁵

His ancestry can trace back to the Imperial family, as a son of Prince Abo, he was the grandson of Emperor Heizei on his father side, and of Kanmu on his mothers.¹ He was father of Ariwara no Munehari, brother of Ariwara no Yukihira⁴ and uncle of Ōe no Chisato.¹

He is listed as one of the Six Poetic Geniuses as well as one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses and 87 of his poems can be found in the Imperial Anthologies.¹⁵ These include the Gosenshū, Kokinshū, Shuishū and Shinkokinshū.⁴

He also has a personal collection of poetry known as the Narihirashū.⁵

We can find a criticism of him in the preface of the Kokinshū written by Ki no Tsurayuki which states:

• • His feelings are too strong; his words, insufficient. His poetry is, so to speak, a faded flower in which a fragrance lingers.⁵

One of his poems (No.17) can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and goes as follows:¹

Another of his poems talks of a now lost temple, and serves as one of the few references we have of the Temple of Nodera, a temple with connections to the Yōkai known as the Noderabō.³

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Suzuki, H. et al. (1997) ”Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu”. Tokyo: Bun’eidō.
3. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.
4. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
5. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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