Lord Fujiwara no Ietaka/Karyū, Junior Fifth Rank Upper Grade

従五位上藤原朝臣家隆 (1158-1237)

Ietaka came from an illustrious background, his father being Provisional Middle Councillor Fujiwara no Mitsutaka 藤原光隆, and his mother the daughter of Assistant Master of the Dowager Empress’ Household Office Fujiwara no Sanekane 藤原実兼, while having Tsutsumi Middle Councillor Fujiwara no Kanesuke 藤原兼輔, and his daughter Murasaki Shikibu 紫式部 among his ancestors on his father’s side. He was also reputedly Jakuren’s son-in-law. Not surprisingly, therefore, he rose to the heights of Minister of the Emperor’s Household, at Junior Second rank, at which time he was often referred to as Mibu Nihon 壬生二品, ‘the Second Rank [person from] Mibu’, after the avenue on which his estate lay.

As a poet, he was a pupil of Shunzei , and while he was not as precocious a talent as Teika 定家, he gradually matured and distinguished himself, becoming an official in the Poetry Office, and one of the compilers of the Shinkokinshū. Retired Emperor Gotoba 後鳥羽 wrote that the renown of his poetry became even greater in the Kenkyū 建久era (1190-1199), and that there was no one he respected more for the depths of his study of poetry, and the numerous splendid poems he had composed.

Nowadays, he’s best remembered for the poem of his included in Teika’s Ogura Hyakunin Isshu 小倉百人一首 poetry collection:

風そよぐ楢の小川の夕暮はみそぎぞ夏のしるしなりける

kaze soyogu nara no ogawa no yûgure wa misogi zo natsu no shirushi narikeru

Wind rustles The oaks along the stream At eventide; Purification: that is summer’s Symbol.

Ietaka has the following poems in the Roppyaku-ban Uta Awase:

6 16 34 44 60 72 80 92 108 116

132 134 148 158 178 190 198 210 224 234

248 262 270 280 298 306 320 336 338 358

368 380 392 408 420 422 444 450 466 476

488 496 512 522 536 542 562 568 588 592

606 618 628 644 649 654 670 684 694 702

720 724 736 750 766 774 786 804 816 826

832 848 864 872 886 994 908 924 932 946

958 964 980 994 1004 1018 1030 1044 1050 1064

1074 1182 1102 1110 1118 1136 1146 1164 1170 1188

1200