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
• Family: Fujiwara no Hamanari (great-grandfather)
• Birth: fl. late 9th Century
• Death: –

Fujiwara no Okikaze

Fujiwara no Okikaze (藤原 興風) was a member of the Fujiwara Clan, more specifically the Kyōke branch, who flourshed in the late 9th century. He was the great-grandson of Fujiwara no Hamanari.

During his life he was a prominent member of literary circles and took part in many uta awase. He was also known as a reputed koto player.

We can find a total of 17 poems within the Kokinshū, and another 21 poems in later Imperial Anthologies. We also know of a private collection of poems by him. Due to his poetry he was listed as one of the Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses.

One of his poems can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (No.34) and goes as follows:¹

External Links

• • E-text of his poems in Japanese.

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
Lady Ise * Yamabe no Akahito * Ariwara no Narihira * Ki no Tomonori * Sarumaru Taifu * Ono no Komachi * Fujiwara no Kanesuke * Fujiwara no Atsutada * Fujiwara no Toshiyuki * Minamoto no Muneyuki * Minamoto no Shitagō * Kiyohara no Motosuke * Sakanoue no Korenori * Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu * Fujiwara no Okikaze * Fujiwara no Asatada

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