Gosen Wakashū

The Gosen Wakashū (後撰和歌集, Later Collection of Japanese Poems), often abbreviated to the Gosenshū, was a Japanese compendium of poetry and the second of the official Imperial Anthologies.

Creation

The anthology was created under the orders of Emperor Murakami (r.946-967) and though the completion date is unsure it is thought to perhaps have been around 955. The compilation was undertaken by the five members of the Nashitsubo no Gonin. These being Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu, Kiyohara no Motosuke, Minamoto no Shitagō. Ki no Tokibumi and Sakanoue no Mochiki.

At the age of 26, Fujiwara no Koretada was chosen as a superintendant of the editorial commitee for the Gosenshū.³

Contents

In total there are 1426 poems inside 20 books and the collection was to serve as a supplimentary to the earlier Kokinshū.

None of the poems are by the compilers of the work, with all 219 poets included being from the late 9th and early 10th centuries.¹

Many poems inside answer each other as a form of poetic dialogue and many include prose notes detailing the circumstances in which they were composed.²

Poets Included

Footnotes

1. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
2. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
3. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.

	Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast. Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives
	Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube. Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria
	Find the website useful? Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.

The post Gosen Wakashū appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Emperor Daigo (husband) Emperor Suzaku (son) Emperor Murakami (son) Fujiwara no Mototsune (father) Fujiwara no Tokihira (brother) Fujiwara no Tadahira (brother) Fujiwara no Nakahira (brother) Fujiwara no Kanehira (brother) Fujiwara no Raishi (sister) Fujiwara no Baishi (sister) Fujiwara no Onshi I (sister)
  • Birth: 885AD
  • Death: 954AD

Fujiwara no Onshi II

Fujiwara no Onshi II (藤原 穏子) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Hokke Branch of this clan, living from 885-954AD.

She was the daughter of Fujiwara no Mototsune and would go on to marry Emperor Daigo. Together she would give birth to the future Emperors Suzaku and Murakami.¹

Lady Ukon served as one of her ladies-in-waiting.²

Footnotes

1. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
2. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.

	Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast. Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives
	Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube. Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria
	Find the website useful? Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.

The post Fujiwara no Onshi II appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

The Nashitsubo no Gonin (Five Men of the Pear Chamber – 梨壺の五人) was the term used in 951 for a group of five men who helped in compiling the Gosenshū.¹ These people were chosen specifically by Emperor Murakami and were additionally tasked to make a scholarly study of the Man’yōshū.²

They consisted of:

• Ki no Tokibumi
• Kiyohara no Motosuke
• Minamoto no Shitagō
• Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu
• Sakanoue no Mochiki

Note from Eli: So far I have only been able to find depicitons of three of these men, see below:

Kiyohara Motosuke	Minamoto no Shitagō
Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu

Footnotes

1. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.

2. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

	Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast. Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives
	Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube. Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria
	Find the website useful? Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.

The post Nashitsubo no Gonin appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.

• 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

Japanese text2	Romanized Japanese1	English translation1
朝ぼらけ 宇治の川霧 たえだえに あらはれわたる 瀬々の網代木	Asaborake Uji no kawagiri taedaeni arawarewataru se-ze no arirogi	As the dawn mist thins in patches on the Uji River, in the shallows appear glistening stakes of fishing nets.

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 of the Late Classical Period
Fujiwara no Sadayori * Fujiwara no Masatsune * Fujiwara no Michinobu * Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha * Fujiwara no Mototoshi * Fujiwara no Yoshitaka * Kujō Yoshitsune * Priest Nōin

	Check out the Japan Archives, our Japanese History Podcast. Instagram (Japan): @japan_archives
	Check out our Gaming Channel on Youtube. Instagram (Minecraft): @mycenria
	Find the website useful? Please consider donating to help up keep the website running.

The post Fujiwara no Sadayori appeared first on . A History . . of Japan . 日本歴史.