Fujiwara no Sadayori

• Period: Heian Period
• Occupation: Waka Poet, Caligrapher, Director of Military Affairs, Middle Counselor.
• Family: Emperor Murakami (grandfather) Fujiwara no Kinto (father)
• Birth: 995AD
• Death: 1045AD

Fujiwara no Sadayori

Fujiwara no Sadayori (藤原定頼) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan living from 995 to 1045AD. He was the grandson of Emperor Murakami and son of the Fujiwara no Kinto, the man who created the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses.

During his life he is known to have held the positions of Director of Military Affairs, and later, Middle Counsellor. Well known during his life as both a calligrapher and poet forty-five of his poems were collected in the imperial waka anthologies, and he also had a private poetry collection. He was later ascribed as one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses of the Late Classical Period.

One of his poems (No. 64) was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and goes as follows:¹

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.

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