Fujiwara no Asatada

02/09/2022| Eli| 0 Comment| 11:17 pm

Period: Heian Period
Occupation: Waka Poet, Middle Councellor
Family: Fujiwara no Sadakata (father) Fujiwara no Tomoyori (brother)
Birth: 910AD
Death: 966AD

Fujiwara no Asatada

Fujiwara no Asatada (藤原朝忠) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan living from 910-966AD. A well known gallant, he was the fifth son of Fujiwara no Sadakata.

During his life he served as Middle Councellor and is considered to have been one of the finest poets during his generation; though his reputuation did decline over time. He was also known as Tomotada.

In total we can find 21 of his poems in Imperial Anthologies and he was included as one of the Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses.

One of his poems can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (No.44) and goes as follows:¹

Japanese text²	Romanized Japanese¹	English translation¹
逢ふことの絶えてしなくは中々に人をも身をも恨みざらまし	Au koto no taete shi naku wa nakanakani hito o mo mi o mo uramizaramashi	If we had never met, I would not so much resent your being cold to me or how I've come to hate myself because I love you so.

External Links

- E-text of his poems in Japanese.

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.

Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses
Lady Ise * Yamabe no Akahito * Ariwara no Narihira * Ki no Tomonori * Sarumaru Taifu * Ono no Komachi * Fujiwara no Kanesuke * Fujiwara no Atsutada * Fujiwara no Toshiyuki * Minamoto no Muneyuki * Minamoto no Shitagō * Kiyohara no Motosuke * Sakanoue no Korenori * Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu * Fujiwara no Okikaze * Fujiwara no Asatada

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