Fujiwara no Sanesuke


Fujiwara no Sanesuke, also known as Go-Ono no Miya, was fourth son of Fujiwara no Tadatoshi. He became udaijin in 1021, and lived to be ninety. He became adopted heir of his grandfather Saneyori, the head of Ononomiya family, and he inherited vast estate and documents of Ononomiya family. Sanesuke had a thorough knowledge of customs and rites, so he was called Kenjin Ufu . He wrote the diary Shōyūki for fifty years.
Sanesuke is mentioned in the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu, author of Genji Monogatari. In it, she praises him for being out of the ordinary, and describes in detail a number of occasions of his superstitious behavior. In the Diary, Sanesuke is described as having summoned exorcists on a number of occasions, and employed children in the beating of gongs to cure him of illness or nightmares.
He was married to a daughter of Minamoto no Koremasa, and also married to Princess Enshi, daughter of Imperial Prince Tamehira. She was a consort of Emperor Kazan and married to Sanesuke after the Emperor became a priest. Neither of these two marriages produced a child. He adopted nephews. Later in life, he fathered two children by maids.
Two adopted children are the sons of Fujiwara no Kanehira. Kanehira was Sanesuke's elder brother.