• Period: Heian Period
• Occupation: Waka Poet, Lieutenant of Imperial Guard
• Family: Fujiwara no Toshiie (father) Fujiwara no Michinaga (great-grandfather)
• Birth: 1060AD
• Death: 1142AD

Fujiwara no Mototoshi

Fujiwara no Mototoshi (藤原 基俊) also went by the name of Kakushi. He was the son of the Minister Fujiwara no Toshiie¹ and great grandson of Fujiwara no Michinaga³ He lived from 1060 to 1142.

During his life he held the position of Lieutenant of the Imperial Guard of the Palace Gates and in 1138 decided to enter into religion when he then took the name of Kakushi.¹

He acted as teacher to Fujiwara no Shunzei and helped in the compilation of the Shinsen rōeishu around 1110 which is a collection of Japanaese verse in the form of song.³ Apparently his conservative style of poetry, caused him to have a rivallry with Minamoto no Toshiyori who was more experimental.⁴

As a poet he also acted as judge in many poetic competitions. In total, we can find 105 poems by him in Imperial Anthologies¹, such as the Kin’yō wakashū⁴ as well in a private collection of his poetry. He was listed as one of the 36 Poetic Geniuses of the Late Classical Period, and one of his poems (No.75) can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu and goes as follows:¹

Japanese text2	Romanized Japanese1	English translation1
契りをきし させもが露を 命にて あはれことしの 秋もいぬめり	Chigiri-okishi sasemo ga tsuyu o inochi nite aware kotoshi no aki mo inumeri	I believed in you with all my heart But again this autumn passed, Filled with sadness. Your promises - But vanishing dewdrops Of the mugwort blessing!

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.

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

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