Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a Japanese poet active around the turn of the eighth century, celebrated for long poems and elegies preserved in the Man’yōshū.

Man’yōshū: Japan’s oldest surviving poetry anthology, compiled in the eighth century and containing more than 4,000 poems. It preserves the poems on which Hitomaro’s reputation chiefly rests.
Poems on the death of Prince Takechi: Elegiac poems in the Man’yōshū mourning Prince Takechi, a son of Emperor Tenmu who died in 696. These works exemplify Hitomaro’s formal praise and grief for a deceased prince.
Emperor Tenmu: The fortieth emperor of Japan, who ruled from 673 to 686 and consolidated the early imperial state. Hitomaro’s career unfolded amid the court order Tenmu helped establish.
Asuka period: A period of Japanese history, conventionally dated from the late sixth century to 710, marked by political centralization and cultural exchange. Hitomaro’s lifetime falls within its final decades.
Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry: A traditional group of thirty-six celebrated Japanese poets selected in the early eleventh century. Hitomaro’s inclusion affirmed his stature in the classical poetic canon.
Chōka: A Japanese long-poem form built from alternating five- and seven-syllable phrases, usually ending with a seven-syllable phrase. Hitomaro used this form for several of his most celebrated works.
Elegy on the death of his wife at Tsunu Bay: A long poem attributed to Hitomaro mourning his wife’s death during a journey near Tsunu Bay. Its intimate loss contrasts with the public funerary elegies associated with his court service.
Empress Jitō: The forty-first emperor of Japan, who ruled from 686 to 697 and sponsored court culture during its early development. Hitomaro’s court poetry belongs to the political world of her reign.
Nara period: A period of Japanese history from 710 to 794, when the capital was established at Nara and the Man’yōshū took shape. The anthology preserving Hitomaro’s poetry was compiled in this succeeding era.
Poetic sage: An honorific designation for a poet regarded as an exemplary master of the art. Later tradition treated Hitomaro as a supreme model of poetic authority.

Linked from 2 pages

Man'yōshūRelated: His elegies and long poems became central models within the collection.