Ariwara no Motokata

Ariwara no Motokata (在原元方, dates unknown, fl. late 800s – 900s CE) was a Japanese waka poet of the early Heian period.

In this Japanese name, the surname is Ariwara.
Ariwara no Motokata
Native name
在原元方
LanguageJapanese
Periodearly Heian
Genrewaka
RelativesEmperor Heizei (great-great grandfather), Fujii no Fujiko (great-great grandmother), Emperor Kanmu (great-great grandfather), Fujiwara no Minamiko (great-great grandmother), Prince Abo (great grandfather), Princess Ito (great grandmother), Ariwara no Narihira (paternal grandfather), Ariwara no Muneyana (father)

He was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and thirty-three of his poems were included in poetry collections commissioned by the court.

Biography

His birth and death dates are unknown, and the details of his life are also uncertain,[1] but he was the son of Ariwara no Muneyana (died 898), the first son of Ariwara no Narihira (825—880).[1] Who his mother was is also unknown.[1]

According to the Kokin Wakashū Mokuroku (古今和歌集目録), he was adopted by his brother-in-law Fujiwara no Kunitsune (藤原国経).[1]

As a courtier, he held the Senior Fifth Rank, although the 14th century Chokusen Sakusha Burui (勅撰作者部類) attributes to him the Sixth Rank.[1]

Poetry

He was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses.[1] Thirty-three of his poems were included in court anthologies: fourteen the Kokin Wakashū, eight in the Gosen Wakashū, two in the Shūi Wakashū, and nine more in later anthologies from the Shin Kokin Wakashū on.[1]

The following poem was included as the very first entry in the Kokin Wakashū, indicating the high regard in which the compilers likely held his poetry.[1]

Japanese text[1]

年のうちに
春は来にけり
一年を
去年とやいはむ
今年とやいはむ

 Romanized Japanese

toshi no uchi ni
haru wa ki ni keri
hitotose o
kozo to ya iwan
kotoshi to ya iwan

 English translation[2]

During the old year
spring has come.
The day that is left:
should we call it last year
or should we call it this year?

Between one and three of his poems survive in the records of each of several uta-awase gatherings: the Ninna Ninomiya Uta-awase (仁和二宮歌合, 893 or earlier), the Kanpyō no Oontoki Kisai no Miya no Uta-awase (寛平御時后宮歌合, also written 寛平御時中宮歌合; 893 or earlier), the Teiji-in no Uta-awase (亭子院歌合, 913) and the Taira no Sadafun ga Ie no Uta-Awase (平定文家歌合, also read Taira no Sadafumi-ke Uta-Awase).[1] Some of these overlap with the Motokata poems preserved in court anthologies.[1]

In the middle ages there was apparently a private collection of his poems, the Motokata-kashū (元方家集),[1] but only a four-leaf fragment is known to exist today.[1]

Characteristic style

His poems are characterized by an intellectual style.[1] They make frequent use of simile (見立て, mitate).[1]

His poems clearly display the features of the so-called "Kokinshū style".[1]

References
  1. Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten article "Ariwara no Motokata" (p. 100, author: Teisuke Fukui).
  2. https://matsuobashohaiku.home.blog/2020/01/22/has-spring-come-%e6%98%a5%e3%82%84%e6%9d%a5/
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