| Shinpen kokka taikan no. | |
| Heian-chō uta’awase taisei no. | 34 |
| Title | 式部卿敦慶親王前栽合 |
| Romanised Title | Shikibukyō atsuyoshi shinnō senzai awase |
| Translated Title | Garden Contest held by Imperial Prince Atsuyoshi, Minister of Ceremonial |
| Alternative Title(s) | |
| Date | Autumn, Enchō 延長 2-7 [924-929] |
| Extant Poems | 2 |
| Sponsor | Imperial Prince Atsuyoshi 敦慶 (888-930) |
| Identifiable Participants | Ise 伊勢 |
| Judgements | N |
| Topics | Incense grass (kusa no kō 草香); Gentian (rindō 竜胆) |
Imperial Prince Atsuyoshi 敦慶 (888-930) was the fourth son of Emperor Uda 宇多(867-931; r. 887-897) who, like his brother, Korezane 維城 (the future Emperor Daigo 醍醐(885-930; r. 897-930) was born a commoner while his father held that status. When Uda was restored to the line of succession and appointed emperor in 887, Atsuyoshi was elevated to the status of imperial prince (shinnō 親王). Under his brother’s rule he was appointed Minster of Central Affairs (nakatsukasa-kyō 中務卿) in 913, and then Minister of Ceremonial (shikibukyō 式部卿) in late 924, which was a position he held, concurrently with that of Superintendant of the Bureau of Education (daigaku bettō 大学別当) from 925, until his death.
He was given the sobriquet Hikaridama no miya 光玉宮 (‘Jewel Shining Prince’), indicating that he was a man of taste, or possibly of a romantic turn of mind, which in later years led to be him being described as a lothario. Yotsuji Yoshinari 四辻善成 (1326-1402), in his commentary on the Tale of Genji, Kakaishō 河海抄 (‘A Volume of Rivers and Seas’; 1362-1367), describes him as ‘a beautiful man who was an unparalleled lover’ (kōshoku musō no bijin 好色無双の美人) and suggests he was one of Murasaki Shikibu’s models for her protagonist.
In any case, he is known to have taken part in poetic events organized by his father, most notably the Teiji-in uta’awase 亭子院歌合 (913) (see above), but the two surviving poems here are the only evidence we have of him organising his own events. The date of the match is uncertain due to its fragmentary nature, but Hagitani (1957, 252) argues that its title most likely means it took place while Atsuyoshi was Minister of Ceremonial, meaning the period 924-929. As its two poems are included in Ise’s personal collection, Ise-shū, and are also ascribed to her in Kokin rokujō, it seems likely that this was a private and informal event involving members of Atsuyoshi’s intimate circle. This impression is reinforced by the fact that both poems are acrostics, making them exercises in wordplay.