Ako Incident

The Ako Incident (Akō Jiken – 阿衡事件 / Akō no Fungi – 阿衡の紛議) occured in 887 and was a conflict between Fujiwara no Mototsune and Emperor Uda concerning his ascension in 887.

During this time Mototsune expected to be reconfirmed in his position of kampuku however a drafted edict named him as Akō (the title of an ancient chinese regent).

He insisted that this was an attempt to deprive him of his power, and as he was so powerful at the time the Emperor was forced to rescind the edict and again make him kampaku.

It was only after the death of Mototsune that Emperor Uda could free himself from the Fujiwara Regency Government that had been ongoing for some time.¹

Footnotes

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

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Minamoto no Rinshi

Minamoto no Rinshi (源 倫子) was the mother of Fujiwara no Shōshi with Akazome Emon serving as her Lady-in-Waiting during her life.¹²

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.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Lady-in-Waiting, Nun, Poet
  • Family: Ōe no Masahira (husband)
  • Birth: c.957
  • Death: 1041

Akazome Emon

Akazome Emon (赤染衛門) living from c.957-1041, was the Lady-in-Waiting to Minamoto no Rinshi¹², and potentially her daughter Empress Shōshi.¹

She was married to Ōe no Masahira and later became a nun after his passing at the end of her life.²

One of the foremost female poets during her life at court we can find 93 of her poems in Imperial Anthologies beginning with the Shūi wakashū.

Her personal anthology the Akazomeshū contains over 600 poems.¹²

She has traditionally been creditted with writing a part of the Eiga Monogatari¹² as well as a travel diary called Owari kikō.²

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.

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• • Period: Kamakura Period
  • Occupation: Waka Poet, Author, Lady-in-Waiting, Nun.
  • Family: Fujiwara no Tameie (husband) Reizei Tamesuke (son)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: 1283AD

Abutsu-ni

Abutsu-ni (阿仏尼) was a waka poet who died in 1283.

She is best known as the author of the Izayoi Nikki and during her life served as Lady-in-Waiting to Empress Anka Mon’in.

Her additional works were Yoru no tsuru as well as generally being the accepted author of Utatane no ki¹. Her poems can be found in the Shoku kokinshū, Gyokuyō-shū and Fūga-shū.²

Around c.1250 she became the secondary wife of Fujiwara no Tameie, later becoming a nun once her husband passed away in 1275.¹

During her lifetime there was a dispute in regards to property and so she went to Kamakura to arrange for a transfer of possesion to her son Reizei Tamesuke, though she died before a judgement was given.²

She was also known as Anka Mon’in no Sijō and Anka Mon’in Emon no Suke during her lifetime.¹

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.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Poet
  • Family: Sugawara no Michizane (grandfather)
    
  • Birth: –
  • Death: –

Sugawara no Fumitoki

Sugawara no Fumitoki (菅原 文時) was the son of Sugawara no Michizane and had a poem in the Wakan rōeishū which went as follows:

‘Peach and Plum Blossoms do not speak.
How many springs have come and gone?
Spring mists leave no trace.
Gone like those who once lived her.’¹

Footnotes

1. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

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Yonaki no ishi

Yonaki no ishi (夜泣き石 – The Stone that Wails at Night) is a type of yōkai depicted in the Konjaku Hyakki Shūi by Toriyama Sekien.

This particular stone can be found in the Sayo no Nakayama pass in Enshū.

The story around it says that a pregnant woman was once attacked by bandits and killed here. Her unborn child crawls out of her slice womb, climbing onto a rock where he cried until rescuers heard him.

After this he grew up being cared for by local monks, later becoming a knife polisher in a nearby town.

One day an aged ronin comes to him with a chipped blade, telling him he once hit a rock in the Nakayama Pass decades ago. This is when he realised this was his mothers killer and so he strikes him down.¹

External Links

• • View the book online here: Konjaku Hyakki Shūi Online.

Footnotes

1. Yoda, H. and Alt, M. (2016) “Japandemonium: Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopaedia of Toriyama Sekien.”. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

List of Supernatural Creatures

Abura akago * Aka Manto * Akaname * Akashita * Amanozako * Amefuri Kozo * Ameonna * Amikiri * Aoandō * Aōbozu * Aonyobo * Aosagi no hi * Ayakashi * Buruburu * Chochin bi * Dōjōji no kane * Dōmeki * Dorotabō * Enenra * Funa Yurei * Furaribi * Fūri * Furutsubaki no rei * Gaikotsu * Ganbari Nyudo * Gagoze * Gangikozō * Gensuke * Haka no hi * Hangonkō * Hannya * Hashi-Hime * Hatahiro * Hiderigami * Hikeshi baba * Himamushi-nyūdō * Hinode * Hitodama * Hitotsume Kozō * Hiyoribo * Hōkō * Hone Onna * Hyōsube * Ikiryō * Inugami * Jakotsubaba * Jatai * Jorōgumo * Kamaitachi * Kamikiri * Kanedama * Kageonna * Kappa * Kasha * Katawa Guruma * Kawa Akago * Kawauso * Kazenbō * Kidōmaru * Kitsunebi * Kejoro * Kerakeraonna * Kodama * Kokuribaba * Kosamebō * Kosode no te * Kosenjo no hi * Kurozuka * Makurageishi * Mikoshi * Minobi * Momiji-gari * Momonjii * Morinji no Kama * Nekomata * Ningyo * Ninmenju * Noderabō * Nopperabo * Nuppeppō * Nurarihyon * Nureonna * Nuribotoke * Nyūnai Suzume * Obariyon * Oboro-guruma * Ōkaburo * Ōkubi * Okiku * Ōmagatoki * Oni * Onihitokuchi * Onmoraki * Osakabe * Oshiroibaba * Otoroshi * Ouni * Ōzatō * Rokurokubi * Sakabashira * Samebito * Sansei * Sarakozoe * Satori * Sesshō-seki * Seta * Shinkirō * Shirachigo * Shiranui * Shōkera * Shokuin * Shuten-dōji * Sōgenbi * Suiko * Takaonna * Tamamo-no-mae * Tanuki * Tenasobi * Tenjō-Kudari * Tengu * Tengu Tsubute * Tenome * Teratsutsuki * Tesso * Tōdaiki * Tōfu Kozō * Tsurubebi * Ubagabi * Ubume * Umibozū * Umizatō * Ushinotoki-mairi * Ushioni * Uwan * Waira * Wani * Wanyudo * Yamabiko * Yamauba * Yamawarawa * Yanari * Yukionna * Zenki and Goki

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Minamoto no Michitomo

Minamoto no Michitomo (源 通具) lived from 1171 to 1237 and during his life became part of the Bureau of Poetry working with five others on the compilation of the Shin-Kokinshū.¹

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.

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Shin-Kokinshū

The Shin-Kokinshū (新古今和歌集– New Collection of Waka Ancient and Modern), know in full as the Shinkokin Wakashū was the 8th Imperial Anthology to be commissioned and compiled.

This particular compendium of waka was commissioned by the Retired Emperor Go-Toba and was initially shown to him in 1205 before final completion in 1210.

It was compiled by six people from the Bureau of Poetry. These being Fujiwara no Teika, Fujiwara no Ietaka, Priest Jakuren, Fujiwara no Masatsune, Fujiwara no Ariie and Minamoto no Mitchitomo with pre-face written by Kujō Yoshitsune

The documented was further edited by the Retired Emperor and both the 1210 and edited versions are still extant. Though the former is seen as the standard version.¹

The contents of the manuscript mention the Principles of Integration employed in the compilation of poetic anthologies.²

Poets Included

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Miller, R. A.. (1981) “The Lost Poetic Sequence of the Priest Manzei”. Monumenta Nipponica. Vol.36 No.2 pp.133-172

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Hear about Ōshikōchi no Mitsune on Episode 60E of our Podcast, the Japan Archives.

• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Waka Poet
  • Family:
  • Birth: –
  • Death: c.925

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune

Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (凡河内 躬恒) was a Heian poet who had a modest career in imperial bureaucracy, dying around 925.

He was a renowned poet whose service were often requested by his friends as well as the Emperor, included as one of the Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses

He acted as one of the compilers of the Kokinshū and can find a total of 196 of his poems in the Imperial Anthologies after the Kokinshū.¹ 60 poems can be found in the Kokinshū itself and he is also known to have had a personal collection called the mitsune-shū which depending on the edition contains between 140 and 384 (482⁴) poems.³

These poems can also be found on screens (byōbu-uta) and as part of poetry competitions (uta-awase).

One of his poems (No.29) can be found in the ogura hyakunin isshu and goes as follows:¹

Japanese text2	Romanized Japanese1	English translation1
心あてに 折らばや折らむ 初霜の おきまどはせる 白菊の花	Kokoroate ni oraba ya oran hatsishimo no okimadowaseru shiragiku no hana	To pluck a stem I shall have to guess, for I cannot tell apart white chrysanthemums from the first frost.

Gallery

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. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
4. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Waka Poet, Priest, Caligrapher
  • Family: Henjo (father)
  • Birth: fl. 9th/early 10th century.
  • Death: –

Priest Sosei

Priest Sosei (素性 or 素性法師) was a waka poet, calligrapher and Priest who flourished around the end of the 9th and early 10th century.

Prior to taking the name Sosei he was known as Yoshimine no Harutoshi and was the son of Henjo. It is said his father was the one to urge him to enter into religion.

He was well renowned for his poems and calligraphy skill and was a favourite of Emperor Uda.

He was included in Fujiwara no Kintō’s Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses, had 36 of his poems in the kokinshū as well as a personal collection of poems known as the sosei hōshi-shū.

One of his poems (No.21) was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and goes as follows:¹

Japanese text2	Romanized Japanese1	English translation1
今来むと いひしばかりに 長月の ありあけの月を 待ちいでつるかな	ima kon to iishi bakari ni nagatsuki no ariake no tsuki o machiidetsurukana	As you said, "I'm coming right away.' I waited for you through the long autumn night, but only the moon greeted me at the cold light of dawn.

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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