In this *anese name, the surname is Ōtomo.

Ōtomo no Yakamochi (大伴 家持, 2 April 718, - 1 May 785) was a *anese statesman and waka poet in the Nara period. He was one of the Man'yō no Go-taika, the five great poets of his time, and was part of Fujiwara no Kintō's Thirty-six Poetry Immortals (三十六歌仙, sanjūrokkasen).

Ōtomo was a member of the prestigious Ōtomo clan. Like his grandfather and father before him, Yakamochi was a well-known politician, and by Enryaku rose to the position of chūnagon (中納言), his highest bureaucratic position..

Contents

• 1 Biography
• 2 Poetic works
• 3 See also
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Biography

Ōtomo was born into the Ōtomo clan; his grandfather was Ōtomo no Yasumaro and his father was Ōtomo no Tabito. The Ōtomo clan were warriors and bureaucrats in the Yamato Court, and Yakamochi served as a provincial governor (国司, kokushi) in several provinces. He was the nephew of Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Iratsume, who was also poet and a favorite of Prince Hozumi. When Tabito died in 631, Ōtomo became the head of the Ōtomo family.

In 738, he met Udoneri, and in 740 at the behest of Emperor Shōmu went to Dazaifu (Kyūshū) to suppress the rebellion of Fujiwara no Hirotsugu. In 745 he became a jōgoika (従五位下). In July of the following year, he became governor of Etchū Province, a post he lasted in until 751. By this time he was already the author of 220 waka. In 751 he was promoted to shōnagon (小納言) and returned to the capital.

In 754 he was appointed military commander (兵部少輔, heibu shōsuke), and the following year concerned himself with the garrison (防人, sakimori) at Nanba, a time that is described in the Sakimori Songs Collection in the Man'yōshū. Yakamochi did not take part in the Tachibana no Naramaro rebellion (橘奈良麻呂の変, tachibana no naramaro no ran). Instead, he conspired with Fujiwara no Yo*sugu, Isonokami Yakatsugu and Saeki no Imaemishi to plot the **ination of Fujiwara no Nakamaro. Afterwards Yo*sugu took sole responsibility for the affair, but due to suspicions about Yakamochi's involvement he was transferred to the governorship of Satsuma Province.

In 777, he rose to the governorship of Ise Province. According to the records of the Ise Shrine (伊勢神宮, ise jingū), he served in this post for about five years. In 780 he was promoted to councillor (参議, sangi). Fearing suspicion and banishment from the capital for aiding in Hikami no Kawatsugu's rebellion (氷上川継の乱, hikami no kawatsugu no ran), he remained quiet and was promoted to chūnagon (中納言) in 783.

He died in 785 by drowning in Mutsu Province while attending to his concurrent post as shōgun. Soon after his death, Fujiwara no Tanetsugu was **inated; suspecting that Yakamochi was involved in the affair, his burial was denied and he was posthumously disgraced and excommunicated. His son was stripped of rank and forced into exile, and it was only in 806 that he regained his rank.

Poetic works

A theory holds that Yakamochi was the compiler (or the final compiler) of the Man'yōshū, the first poetry anthology created in *anese history, for which he not only wrote several poems but also transcribed, rewrote, and refashioned an unknown number of ancient poems and folklore. About 481 of the poems included in the anthology were his works. He was the most prolific and prominent writer of his time, and had a great influence on the Shika Wakashū as well. The famous Gunka song Umi Yukaba used one of his most famous and outstanding poem as lyrics, and was considered *an's second anthem during wartime. It was the anthem of the *anese navy, serving as the send-off song for sailors at the beginning of the war in 1937. It also formed part of the *anese military appropriation of high culture for the historical justification of its existence.

He wrote a eulogy (banka) for Prince Asaka (安積皇子 Asaka-no-miko).

See also

• 8th century in poetry
• *anese poetry

References

• This article is based on material from the equivalent article in the *anese Wikipedia.

External links

• Media related to Ōtomo no Yakamochi at Wikimedia Commons
• "大伴家持全集 本文編 (Collected works of Otomo Yakamochi; in *anese)". Retrieved 2006-07-10.