Fujiwara no Akitsuna


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

Life

Fujiwara no Akitsuna was a son of, a member of the Michitsuna lineage of the Northern Branch of the Fujiwara clan. His mother was, a daughter of Fujiwara no Masatoki, the governor of Kaga Province. The year of his birth is uncertain.
He was the adoptive father of Arisuke, a son of Emperor Go-Sanjō. His other children included Michitsune, the governor of Izumi Province, Kenshi, the wet nurse of Emperor Horikawa, and Nagako, the author of the . He was also related by marriage to and Fujiwara no Akisue.
During the Kanji era he became the governor of Sanuki Province, earning him the nickname Sanuki no Nyūdō. He served in positions such as governor of Tanba Province and governor of Izumi Province, and by the end of his career was of Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade.
He probably took the tonsure in Kōwa 2.
It is uncertain when he died. Sonpi Bunmyaku says he died on the 27th day of the sixth month of Kōwa 5, at age 75, but his poetry appears in the record of the Sakon no Gon-Chūjō Toshitada Ason-ke Uta-awase, which took place the following year. places his death in the summer of Kajō 2.

Poetry

The first uta-awase contest in which he took part was the Jōryaku Ninen Dairi Uta-awase in Jōryaku 2. He took part in the poetic gatherings:
He also held poetic gatherings at his own residence.
According to the , he was engaged in copying the Man'yōshū, and that he came into possession of the Yōmei-in text of the Kokinshū, penned by the compiler Ki no Tsurayuki.
Twenty-five of his poems were included in imperial anthologies, including the Goshūishū. He left a personal collection, the Akitsuna Ason Shū. Among his most famous works is the following poem, which was submitted to the Sakon no Gon-Chūjō Toshitada Ason-ke Uta-awase and included in the first book of love poems in the Shikashū:

Citations

Works cited