Fujiwara no Akinaka


Fujiwara no Akinaka was a Japanese nobleman and waka poet of the Heian period.

Life

Fujiwara no Akinaka was born in Kōhei 2. He was the third son of Sukenaka, a member of the Saneyori lineage of the Northern Branch of the Fujiwara clan. He was later adopted by, the governor of Mutsu Province. His mother was a daughter of.
He is known as Suke Akinaka to distinguish him from. He had various other names, such as Katsumata no Hyōe no Suke, by which name the ' calls him. The latter name is a derived from a combination of his court position, Sahyōe-no-suke, and a famous poem he composed at the Shirakawa-den Gyokai on Katsumata Pond :
He was close friends with Minamoto no Toshiyori and Fujiwara no Mototoshi, and in addition to being a respected poet he was also known for his skill as a calligrapher and musician, but was unable to attain success due to his relatively low birth. By the end of his career, he had risen to the Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade. He held the position of Assistant Head of Left Military Guards.
According to the ', Akinaka died on the third day of the first month of Daiji 4. He was 71.

Poetry

The first uta-awase contest in which he took part was the Sakon no Gon-Chūjō Toshitada Ason-ke Uta-awase in Chōji 1. He took part in the following poetic gatherings:
He was one of the poets of the Horikawa-in Ontoki Hyakushu Waka.
According to the , he was disappointed with the Kin'yōshū, and in Daiji 1 compiled his own anthology, the Ryōgyokushū, which is no longer extant.
18 of his poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Kin'yōshū on.
One famous poem of his, in which he laments his lack of success at court, is the following from the first book of miscellaneous poems in the Kin'yōshū:

Citations

Works cited