Fujiwara no Akinaka

Fujiwara no Akinaka (藤原 顕仲; 1059–1129) was a Japanese nobleman and waka poet of the Heian period.

Life

Fujiwara no Akinaka was born in Kōhei 2 (1059 in the Gregorian calendar). He was the third son of Sukenaka<small> ()</small>, a member of the Saneyori lineage (実頼流) 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 (佐顕仲) to distinguish him from . He had various other names, such as Katsumata no Hyōe no Suke (勝間田兵衛佐), 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 (白河殿御会) on Katsumata Pond (勝間田池 Katsumata-no-ike):

According to the ', Akinaka died on the third day of the first month of Daiji 4 (31 January 1129). He was 71 (by Japanese reckoning).

Poetry

The first uta-awase contest in which he took part was the Sakon no Gon-Chūjō Toshitada Ason-ke Uta-awase (左近権中将俊忠朝臣家歌合) in Chōji 1 (1104). He took part in the following poetic gatherings:

• the Ungo-ji Kechien-kyō Goen Uta-awase (雲居寺結縁経後宴歌合) in EikyÅ« 4 (1116);
• the Hitomaro-eigu held by Fujiwara no Akisue in Gen'ei 1 (1118); and
• the Naidaijin-ke Uta-awase (内大臣家歌合) that was held over three sessions between Gen'ei 1 and Gen'ei 2 (1119).

He was one of the poets of the Horikawa-in Ontoki Hyakushu Waka (堀河院御時百首和歌).

According to the ', he was disappointed with the Kin'yōshū, and in Daiji 1 (1126) compiled his own anthology, the Ryōgyokushū (良玉集), which is no longer extant.