Priest Jakuren

• Period: Heian Period / Kamakura Period
• Occupation: Waka Poet, Bureau of Poetry
• Family: Fujiwara no Ietaka (son-in-law) Fujiwara no Shunzei (adopted father)
• Birth: 1139
• Death: 1202

Priest Jakuren

Priest Jakuren (寂蓮), originally known as Fujiwara no Sadanaga (藤原定長) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan living from 1139 to 1202AD. He was adopted by Fujiwara no Shunzei, and later became the father-in-law of Fujiwara no Ietaka. It was when he entered religion in 1192 that he took the name of Jakuren.

During his lifetime he was a part of the Mikohidari House of Poetry with Ietaka and Fujiwara no Teika, and later in 1201 he was appointed as a member of the Bureau of Poetry and helped in the compilation of the Shin-kokinshū. Sadly he died before it was completed.¹

He is known to have had disputes over poetic theory during the roppyakubun uta awase in 1193 with Kenshō.³

In additonal to a collection of private poetry we can also find 117 poems of his in the imperial waka anthologies.¹

He has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (No.87) which 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.
3. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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