| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | 21 |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 40 |
| Title | 陽成院親王二人歌合 |
| Romanised Title | Yōzei’in miko futari uta’awase |
| Translated Title | Poetry Contest held by Two Imperial Princes of Former Emperor Yōzei |
| Alternative Title(s) | See below |
| Date | Before 7 Tengyō 6 [943] |
| Extant Poems | 39 |
| Sponsor | Imperial Prince Motoyoshi 元良親王 |
| Identifiable Participants | N |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | Nezame no koi ねざめのこひ (‘Love on waking;); Akatsuki no wakare no koi あかつきのわかれのこひ (‘Love on morning partings’) |
This match is referred to by a range of different sobriquets in different texts:
- Yōzei’in miko futari uta’awase 陽成院親王二人歌合 (‘Poetry Match held by the Two Princes of Former Emperor Yōzei’)
- Yōzei’in dai-ichi miko ie uta’awase 陽成院第一親王家歌合 (‘Poetry Match held at the Residence of the First Prince of Former Emperor Yōzei’)
- Yōzei’in ichi no miya uta’awase 陽成院一宮歌合 (‘Poetry Match held by the First Prince of Former Emperor Yōzei’)
- Yōzei’in uta’awase 陽成院歌合 (‘Former Emperor Yōzei’s Poetry Match’)
- Hyōbukyō motoyoshi-shin’nō ie uta’awase 兵部卿元良親王家歌合 (‘Poetry Match held at the Residence of Imperial Prince Motoyoshi, Minister of War’)
- Motoyoshi-shin’nō uta’awase 元良親王歌合 (‘Imperial Prince Motoyoshi’s’ Poetry Match’)
- Hyōbukyō shin’nō uta’awase 兵部卿親王歌合 (‘Poetry Match held by the Imperial Prince and Minister of War’)
From these various appellations, it seems clear that the main sponsor was Imperial Prince Motoyoshi 元良親王 (890-943), the eldest son of Emperor Yōzei 陽成 (869-949; r. 876-884), who was born after his father’s abdication and was thus not part of the line of imperial succession. The identity of the second prince is less certain, but Hagitani (1957, 276) suggests that the most likely candidate is Imperial Prince Motohira 元平親王 (?-958), Motoyoshi’s full brother, given their blood relationship.
Motoyoshi is known to have died on the 26th day of the Seventh Month, Tengyō 6 [28.8.943], so the match cannot have taken place any later than this, but there is no other evidence available to date it more precisely. It is possible that it could have occurred as early as Engi 10 [910], but this seems somewhat unlikely given that Motohira would probably have been very young at this point, and the match’s topics, ‘Love on Waking’ and ‘Love after a Dawn Parting’ required a certain maturity to develop. This would seem to match what we know of the brothers from other sources: Motoyoshi developed a reputation as something of a womaniser—Yamato monogatari 大和物語 (‘The Tales of Yamato’; before 951) contains a number of anecdotes about his love affairs, and even suggests that he used to secretly watch passing women from one of his residences (Tahara 1980, 83). By contrast, the same text’s sole reference to Motohira relates that he suddenly returned to visit a lady with whom he had long been intimate after failing to call on her for a lengthy period. She was so shocked by this that she fled and would not speak to him (Tahara 1980, 15–16).
Given the topics and lack of any other material, it is most likely that this was a private entertainment organized by Motoyoshi and involving his brother. If so, the event would have focussed purely on the poetry and lacked other accoutrements such as a diorama. It is possible that it may have involved only the two princes, without a reciter, reader and judge—certainly if any others were present, their names were not recorded, nor were any judgements or other critical comments.