Right

けふひきてくもゐにうつすきくのはなあまつほしとやあすからはみん

kyō hikite kumoi ni utsusu kiku no hana ama tsu hoshi to ya asu kara wa min

Today do I draw up, Reflecting in the clouds, Chrysanthemum blooms— As stars within the heavens Might they seem tomorrow?

Kanesuke[i]
8

あたらしきものにざりけるかみなづきしぐれふりにしいろにはあれども

atarashiki mono ni zarikeru kaminazuki shigure furinishi iro ni wa aredomo

A new Thing it is not: In the Godless Month Showers have fallen Bringing their hues, and yet…

Kanesuke
9

ひとくさにさけばかひなしももしきにうつりてのちはいろかふなきみ

hitokusa ni sakeba kainashi momoshiki ni utsurite nochi wa iro kau na kimi

For a single flower To bloom is pointless, but When to the hundredfold palace It is shifted, It’s hues do change, indeed, my lord!

Korehira[ii]
10

うつろふとみゆるものからきくのはなさけりしえだぞかはらざりける

utsurou to miyuru mono kara kiku no hana sakerishi eda zo kawarazarikeru

A faded Thing does it appear to be, This chrysanthemum flower; Branch where it did bloom Is unchanged, indeed!

Tsurayuki
11

きくのはなこきもうすきもいままでにしものおかずばいろをみましや

kiku no hana koki mo usuki mo ima made ni shimo no okazuba iro o mimashi ya

If upon the chrysanthemum flowers, Both deep and pale, Up to this day The frost had not fallen, then Would I wish to see their hues?

Mitsune
12

はつしぐれふりそめしよりきくのはなこがりしえだぞまたそはりける

hatsu shigure furisomemeshi yori kiku no hana kokarishi eda zo mata sowarikeru

Since the first showers Fell to dye The chrysanthemum blooms Deepened hues to the stems Have been added more!

Mitsune
13

もとよりのいろにはあれどきくのはなかたへはうつすところがらかも

moto yori no iro ni wa aredo kiku no hana katae wa utsusu tokorogara kamo

From before Had they their hues, yet The chrysanthemum blooms Shine in part— That is their special strength, perhaps!

Mitsune
14[iii]

---

[i] Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔 (877-933)

[ii] Fujiwara no Korehira 藤原伊衡 (876-939). Korehira was the third son of Fujiwara no Toshiyuki and enjoyed a reasonably successful court career, eventually being appointed Minister of Justice (gyōbukyō 刑部卿) in 936. As a poet, he has a respectable 11 poems in imperial anthologies, starting with Gosenshū. At court, he was known for being able to hold his drink: Honchō monzui 本朝文粋, a collection of Sinitic writings by courtiers put together by Fujiwara no Akihira 藤原明衡 (989-1066), contains an account by Ki no Haseo of a drinking contest (sake kassen 酒合戦) organised by Former Emperor Uda on the 15^th day of the Sixth Month, Engi 11 (911) at his Teiji-in residence, in which Korehira took part, along with seven other courtiers who were famous for being heavy drinkers. Uda had twenty cups of sake prepared for the competitors, but by the seventh round, Taira no Mareyo 平希世 (?-930) had wandered outside the palace’s gate and passed out, Fujiwara no Nakahira 藤原仲平 (875-945) and Fujiwara no Tsunekuni 藤原経邦 (dates unknown) had vomited on the floor and the others were all dead drunk, with only Korehira showing no signs of intoxication. He was still apparently unaffected after the tenth cup, after which Uda declared him the winner, as none of the others were able to continue, and presented him with a swift horse as a prize!

[iii] Ōchikōchi no Mitsune 凡河内躬恒 (Fl. 898-922)

Sumiyoshi Shrine Poetry Match 9^th day, Tenth Month, Kaō 2[1]

Topics

The moon over the shrine

Showers at one’s lodgings on a journey[2]

Personal grievances[3]

Reader

Reciter[4]

Left	Lord Fujiwara no Kunisuke, Supernumerary Senior Secretary of the Empress Household Office, Exalted Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[5]
Right	Lord Fujiwara no Asamune, Supernumerary Governor of Suruga Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade[6]

Judge

Lord Fujiwara no Toshinari, Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office and Master of the Right Capital Office, Exalted Senior Third Rank[7]

Go to the contest.

---

[1] 18.11.1170 (Wednesday)

[2] Tabiyado no shigure 旅宿時雨

[3] Jukkai 述懐

[4] It is relatively unusual for participants in an uta’awase to be listed in rank order along with all their official titles. Kubota et al. (2024, 427) suggest that this is so that in the section of personal grievances, the deity knew who to give priority to in His response.

[5] Jūgoige-gyō kōgōgū gontaishin Fujiwara ason Kunisuke 従五位下行皇后宮権大進藤原朝臣邦輔 (dates unknown). Kunisuke took part in this match, and also the later Hirota-sha uta’awase, but was not considered a sufficiently accomplished poet to warrant inclusion in an imperial anthology. His appointment as reciter here, though, suggests he was thought to have a clear and loud enough voice to perform in public.

[6] Suruga no gonkami jūgoige Fujiwara ason Asamune 駿河権守従五位下藤原朝臣朝宗 (dates unknown): also known by the name Asanaka 朝仲, Asamune took part in this contest, the Hirota-sha uta’awase, and Shunzei included a single poem of his in Senzaishū (V: 375): Composed on the conception of scarlet leaves showing through the pines. 色かへぬ松ふく風のおとはしてちるはははそのもみぢなりけり iro kaenu / matsu fuku kaze no / oto wa shite / chiru wa hahaso no / momiji narikeri ‘Hues unchanging / Pines blown by the wind / Make a sound, but / What scatters are the oaks’ / Scarlet leaves.’

[7] Shōsan’i-gyō kōgōgū  taifu ken sakyō taifu Fujiwara ason Toshinari正三位行皇后宮大夫兼右京大夫藤原朝臣俊成 (1114-1204): Better known as Shunzei, he was the most influential poetic figure of his age and ‘probably the most accomplished critic in the history of Japanese poetry’ (Huey 2002, 56). He founded the Mikohidari 御子左 poetic house, whose descendants were to dominate the waka tradition for centuries, while his poetry contest judgements became the model for later critics and judges to follow. See Royston (1974) for a full account of his life and importance.

Round Twenty-Three

Left (Win)

つのくにのなにはのこともあしのねのこのよはかくてかれはてねとや

tsu no kuni no naniwa no koto mo ashi no ne no kono yo wa kakute karehatene to ya

In the land of Tsu At Naniwa, all things Are ill, as the reeds roots, In this world have I thus Withered all away?

Chūnagon
145

Right

いかでなほまどふうきよをそむきなばまことのみちをふみもたがへじ

ikade nao madou ukiyo o somukinaba makoto no michi o fumi mo tagaeji

Should, somehow, yet This confusing cruel world I depart, then On the path of truth Would I make no mistaken steps.

Sokaku
146

These poems of the Left and Right both appear to have extremely moving conceptions, but with that being said, the poem of the Left, beginning with ‘At Naniwa, all things / Are ill, as the reeds roots’ and following this with ‘In this world have I thus / Withered all away?’ has a configuration and conception that makes me feel the waves of Naniwa Bay upon my sleeves. Thus, the Left wins.

Shinpen kokka taikan no.	13
Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no.	25
Title	内裏菊合　延喜十三年
Romanised Title	Dairi kiku awase Engi jusan nen
Translated Title	Palace Chrysanthemum Contest Engi 13
Alternative Title(s)
Date	13/10 Engi 13 [13.11.913
Extant Poems	14
Sponsor
Identifiable Participants	Okikaze; Suetada; Korenori; Kanesuke; Korehira; Tsurayuki; Mitsune
Judgements	N
Topics	菊 (chrysanthemums)