| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 23 |
| Title | 藤壺女御前栽合 |
| Romanised Title | Fujitsubo nyōgo senzai awase |
| Translated Title | Garden Contest held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort |
| Alternative Title(s) | |
| Date | Autumn, Year unknown |
| Extant Poems | 2 |
| Sponsor | |
| Identifiable Participants | |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | autumn; bell crickets (suzumushi 鈴虫) |
There is limited concrete evidence about this contest, with even the identity of the Fujitsubo Junior Consort is uncertain, with some suggestions that this is an alternate title for the Seventh Princess, while others make the case for it being her mother – whose identity is also unclear. If either of these theories were correct, however, it suggests that the poems here may, in fact, have formed part of the Teishi-in – onna shichi no miya uta’awase rather than being part of an independent contest.
There remains the fact, however, that the first of the two poems associated with this contest was included in Shokukokinshū 続古今集 (IV: 332) and attributed to Emperor Uda with the headnote:
Composed by His Majesty when he judged he poems in the Garden Match held by the Fujitsubo Junior Consort.
So there was clearly a belief on the part of the compilers of that anthology when it was put together in 1265 that it was part of an identifiable competition.
花の色はこなたかなたにみゆめれど秋の心は一つなりけり
| Fana no iro Fa konatakanata ni miyumeredo aki no kokoro Fa Fitotu narikeri | The blossoms’ hues So varied Do appear, and yet The heart of autumn Is the same in every one. |
1
音に高くいとどなりませ鈴虫は白露ことにおきつとならば
| ne ni takaku itodo narimase suzumusi Fa siratuyu koto ni okitu to naraba | Their piercing cries Grow all the louder – Should on the bell crickets Silver dewdrops especially Fall… |
2