Fujiwara no Yoshitaka

Fujiwara no Yoshitaka (藤原 義孝, 954–974) was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He produced a private waka collection, the Yoshitaka-shū.

Fujiwara no Yoshitaka, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Biography

Yoshitaka was born in 954, the son of Fujiwara no Koretada.[1][2]

He served as captain of the right bodyguards (右少将, ushōshō).[1][2] He was the father of the respected calligrapher Yukinari.[1]　When his father died, Yoshitaka considered ordaining as a Buddhist monk. In the same year his son was born, which dissuaded him from pursuing a religious career.

He died in 974, at age twenty, of smallpox, on the same day as his twin brother.[1][2]

Poetry

Twelve of his poems were included in imperial anthologies, and he was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.[1]

The following poem by him was included as No. 50 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[3]	Romanized Japanese[4]	English translation[5]
君がため 惜しからざりし 命さへ 長くもがなと 思ひけるかな	Kimi ga tame oshikarazarishi inochi sae nagaku mogana to omoikeru kana	I always thought I would give my life to meet you only once, but now, having spent a night with you, I wish that I may go on living forever.

He left a private collection, the Yoshitaka-shū (義孝集).[1][2]

References

1. McMillan 2010 : 140 (note 50).
2. Daijirin entry "Fujiwara no Yoshitaka". Sanseidō.
3. Suzuki et al. 2009 : 65.
4. McMillan 2010 : 165.
5. McMillan 2010 : 52.

Bibliography

• McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press.
• Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.

External links

• List of Yoshitaka's poems in the International Research Center for Japanese Studies's online waka database.
• Minamoto no Yoshitaka on Kotobank.
• Fujiwara no Yoshitaka on the Japanese History Database.