Editing Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (section)

== Life ==
=== Sources ===
The sole early source<!-- The source says 上代文献, which means a document from the Asuka or Nara period. Presumably this is to contrast later legendaryntexts that should probably also be mentioned here. --> for the life of the poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro is the ''[[Man'yōshū]]''.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} His name does not appear in any of the official court documents, perhaps on account of his low rank.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=118}}

=== Ancestry ===
{{Main|Kakinomoto clan}}
Hitomaro was born into the [[Kakinomoto clan]],{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586|2a1=Nakanishi|2y=1985|2p=221}} an offshoot of the ancient [[Wani clan]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} Centred in the northeastern part of the [[Nara Basin]], the Wani clan had furnished many imperial consorts in the fourth through sixth centuries, and extended their influence from [[Yamato Province]] to [[Yamashiro Province|Yamashiro]], [[Ōmi Province|Ōmi]], [[Tanba Province|Tanba]] and [[Harima Province|Harima]] provinces.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} Many of their clan traditions (including genealogies, songs, and tales) are preserved in the ''[[Nihon Shoki]]'' and, especially, the ''Kojiki''.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} The Kakinomoto clan were headquartered in either [[Shinjō, Nara]] or, perhaps more likely, the Ichinomoto area of [[Tenri, Nara]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} The main Wani clan were also based in this area, so the Kakinomoto clan may have had a particularly close relationship with their parent clan.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} According to the ''[[Shinsen Shōjiroku]]'', the clan's name derives from the [[persimmon]] (''kaki'') tree that grew on their land during the reign of [[Emperor Bidatsu]].{{sfnm|1a1=Nakanishi|1y=1985|1p=221}}

The Kakinomoto clan had their [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Hereditary titles|hereditary title]] promoted from [[Omi (title)|Omi]] to [[Ason]] in the eleventh month (see ''[[Japanese calendar]]'') of 684.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} According to the ''Nihon Shoki'', [[Kakinomoto no Saru]],{{efn|The ''Nihon Shoki'' spells this name 柿本臣猨, while the ''Shoku Nihongi'' spells it 柿本朝臣佐留, 臣 and 朝臣 reflecting the 684 change in title.}} the probable head of the clan, had been among ten people appointed ''{{interlanguage link|shōkinge|ja|小錦下}}'', equivalent to [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Fifth Rank|Junior Fifth Rank]], in the twelfth month of 681.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} These facts lead Watase to conjecture that the Kakinomoto clan may have had some literary success in the court of Emperor Tenmu.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} According to the ''[[Shoku Nihongi]]'', Saru died in 708, having attained the [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Fourth Rank|Junior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}

There are several theories regarding the relationship of this Kakinomoto no Saru to the poet Hitomaro,{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586|2a1=Nakanishi|2y=1985|2p=221}} including the former being the latter's father, brother, uncle, or them being the same person.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} The theory that they were the same person has been advanced by [[Takeshi Umehara]],{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1loc=p. 170, note 141, citing Umehara<!-- No idea which of Umehara's books Keene is citing here, as he lists three of them in the bibliography. -->}} but has little supporting evidence.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} While the other theories cannot be confirmed, it is certain that they were members of the same clan (probably close relatives), and were active at the same time.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} It is likely that their mutual activity at court had a significant effect on each other.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}

=== Birth and early life ===
The year in which he was born is not known,{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} nor can much be said with certainty about any aspects of his life beyond his poetic activities.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=103}} Watase tentatively takes Hitomaro as being 21 years old (by [[East Asian age reckoning#Japanese|Japanese reckoning]]) between 673 and 675, which would put his birth between 653 and 655.{{efn|The [[Yōrō Code]] puts the normal minimum age of people coming to court as High Chamberlain or [[Chamberlain of the Eastern Palace]] (東宮舎人) as 21.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=587}}}}

=== Emperor Tenmu's reign ===
The earliest dated work attributed to him in the ''Man'yōshū'' is his [[Tanabata]] poem (''Man'yōshū'' 2033) composed in the ninth year of [[Emperor Tenmu]]'s reign (680).{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} The content of this poem reveals an awareness of the mythology that, according to the preface to the ''Kojiki'' (completed in 712) had begun to be compiled during Tenmu's reign.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} Watase also observes that Hitomaro's having composed a Tanabata poem means that he was probably attending Tanabata gatherings<!-- "七夕の雅会にも加わったものと見える"? --> during this period.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} A significant number of poems in the ''[[Kakinomoto no Ason Hitomaro Kashū]]'' were apparently recorded by Hitomaro before 690,{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} and are characteristic of court poetry,{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} leading to the conclusion that he was active at court from the early part of Emperor Tenmu's reign.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} From this point he was active in recording and composing love poems at court.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}

Watase speculates that Hitomaro came to court in the service of the {{interlanguage link|High Chamberlain|ja|大舎人寮}}<!-- This translation comes from a footnote in Aston, who places "Ohotoneri" in the main text. --> in response to an imperial edict in 673.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}

Based on Hitomaro's poetic activities during [[Empress Jitō]]'s reign, there are a few possibilities for where Hitomaro was serving at Tenmu's court.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} Watase presents three principal theories: first<!-- at the 後宮 --> under the empress-consort Princess Uno-no-sarara (who later became Empress Jitō); second<!-- at the 島の宮 --> under [[Crown Prince Kusakabe]]; third in the palace of [[Prince Osakabe]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}<!-- Watase states just below this that there are reasons to support all three theories, but without any consensus among scholars. A newer source is needed to verify that this situation has not changed since 1983. -->

=== Reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu ===
[[Image:Kakinomoto Hitomaro.jpg|thumb|Hitomaro by [[Kikuchi Yōsai]]|left]]
Hitomaro acted as a court poet during the reigns of Empress Jitō and [[Emperor Monmu]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586|2a1=Nakanishi|2y=1985|2p=221}} In the fourth month of 689, Prince Kusakabe died, and Hitomaro composed an elegy commemorating the prince.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} He also composed an elegy for [[Princess Asuka]], who died in the fourth month of 700,{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} and a poem commemorating an imperial visit to [[Kii Province]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}}

His poetic composition flourished during the period in which Empress Jitō was active (both during her reign and after her retirement).{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} He composed poetry for numerous members of the imperial family, including the empress, Prince Kusakabe, [[Emperor Monmu|Prince Karu]], [[Prince Takechi]], Prince Osakabe, [[Prince Naga]], [[Prince Yuge]], [[Prince Toneri]], {{interlanguage link|Prince Niitabe|ja|新田部皇子}}, [[Princess Hatsusebe]] and [[Princess Asuka]].{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586}} He apparently composed poetry in [[Yamato Province]] (his home), [[Yamashiro Province]] and [[Ōmi Province]] in the north, Kii Province in the south, [[Shikoku]], [[Kyūshū]] and the [[Seto Inland Sea]] in the west, as well as [[Iwami Province]] in the northwest.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1pp=586–587}}

[[Susumu Nakanishi]] remarks that the fact that he did not apparently compose elegies for emperors themselves, and that most of his poems centre around princes and princesses, indicates that he was probably a writer affiliated with the literary circles that formed around these junior members of the imperial family.{{sfnm|1a1=Nakanishi|1y=1985|1p=221}}

=== Later life and death ===
The ordering of poems, and their headnotes, in volume 2 of the ''Man'yōshū'', implies that Hitomaro died shortly before the moving of the capital to [[Nara, Nara|Nara]] in 710.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=587}} He would have been in Iwami Province, at the [[List of Japanese court ranks, positions and hereditary titles#Sixth Rank|Sixth Rank]] or lower.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=586|2a1=Nakanishi|2y=1985|2p=221}}

The date, site and manner of his death are a matter of scholarly debate,{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1pp=116–118}} due to some contradictory details that are gleaned from poems attributed to Hitomaro and his wife {{nihongo|Yosami no Otome{{!}}Yosami|依羅娘子|Yosami no Otome}}.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}} Taking Watase's rough dates, he would have been in his mid-fifties in 709, when Watase speculates he died.{{sfnm|1a1=Watase|1y=1983|1p=587}} [[Mokichi Saitō]] postulated that Hitomaro died in an epidemic that swept Iwami and [[Izumo Province|Izumo]] provinces in 707.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}} Hitomaro's final poem gives the strong impression that he met his death in the mountains.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}

{|align=center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border:1px solid black; background-color:#e7e8ff;"
|- align=center bgcolor=#d7a8ff
|- 
!''Man'yōgana''{{sfnm|1a1=Tsuru and Moriyama|1y=2012|1p=87}}||Modern Japanese text{{sfnm|1a1=Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake|1y=1971|1p=181}}||Reconstructed Old Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Frellesvig et al.|1y=2017}}||Modern Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}||English translation{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}<!-- Keene attributes this translation to the NGS, which I'm pretty sure is public domain. User:Hijiri88, October 2017. -->
|- valign=top
|
:鴨山之
:磐根之巻有
:吾乎鴨
:不知等妹之
:待乍将有
|
:鴨山の
:岩根しまける
:我をかも
:知らにと妹が
:待ちつつあるらむ
|
:''kamoyama no''
:''ipane si mak-yeru''
:''ware wo ka mo''
:''sira-nito imo ga''
:''matitutu ara-mu''
|
:''Kamoyama no''
:''iwane shi makeru''
:''ware wo kamo''
:''shira ni to imo ga''
:''machitsutsu aruran''
|
:All unaware, it may be,
:That I lie in Kamoyama,
:Pillowed on a rock,
:She is waiting now—my wife—
:Waiting for my return.
|-
|}

Saitō was convinced he had located the site of the Kamoyama of the above poem and erected a monument there,{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}} but two poems by Yosami that immediately follow the above in the ''Man'yōshū'' suggest otherwise, as they mention "shells" (貝 ''kai'') and a "Stone River" (石川 ''Ishikawa''), neither of which seem likely in the context of Saitō's Kamoyama.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1pp=116–117}}

{|align=center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border:1px solid black; background-color:#e7e8ff;"
|- align=center bgcolor=#d7a8ff
|- 
!''Man'yōgana''{{sfnm|1a1=Tsuru and Moriyama|1y=2012|1p=87}}||Modern Japanese text{{sfnm|1a1=Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake|1y=1971|1pp=181–182}}||Reconstructed Old Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Frellesvig et al.|1y=2017}}||Modern Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}||English translation{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}<!-- Keene attributes this translation to the NGS, which I'm pretty sure is public domain. User:Hijiri88, October 2017. -->
|- valign=top
|
:且今日且今日
:吾待君者
:石水之
:貝尓交而
:有登不言八方
|
:今日今日と
:我が待つ君は
:石川の
:貝に交じりて
:ありといはずやも
|
:''kyepu kyepu to''
:''wa ga matu kimi pa''
:''isikapa no''
:''kapi ni mazirite''
:''ari to ipa-zu ya mo''
|
:''kyō kyō to''
:''a{{efn|Keene (1999, p. 116) gives the reading "wa", but his source (Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake 1971, p. 182) gives the ''[[furigana]]'' reading "a", as do Tsuru and Moriyama (2012, p. 87).}} ga matsu kimi wa''
:''Ishikawa no''
:''kai ni majirite''
:''ari to iwazu ya mo''
|
:Day in, day out,
:I wait for my husband—
:Alas! he lies buried, men say
:in the ravine of the Stone River.
|-
|}
The above-quoted translation is based on Saitō's interpretation of ''kai'' as referring to a "ravine" (峡).{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=117}} Other scholars take the presence of "shells" as meaning Hitomaro died near the mouth of a river where it meets the sea.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=117}} (This interpretation would give the translation "Alas! he lies buried, men say, / With the shells of the Stone River.")

{|align=center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border:1px solid black; background-color:#e7e8ff;"
|- align=center bgcolor=#d7a8ff
|- 
!''Man'yōgana''{{sfnm|1a1=Tsuru and Moriyama|1y=2012|1p=87}}||Modern Japanese text{{sfnm|1a1=Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake|1y=1971|1p=182}}||Reconstructed Old Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Frellesvig et al.|1y=2017}}||Modern Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}||English translation{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}}<!-- Keene attributes this translation to the NGS, which I'm pretty sure is public domain. User:Hijiri88, October 2017. -->
|- valign=top
|
:直相者
:相不勝
:石川尓
:雲立渡礼
:見乍将偲
|
:ただに逢はば
:逢ひかつましじ
:石川に
:雲立ち渡れ
:見つつ偲はむ
|
:''tada no api pa''
:''api-katu masizi''
:''isikapa ni''
:''kumo tati-watare''
:''mitutu sinwopa-mu''
|
:''tada ni awaba''{{efn|Tsuru and Moriyama (2012, p. 87) give the reading ''tada no ai wa''.}}
:''ai katsu mashiji''
:''Ishikawa ni''
:''kumo tachiwatare''
:''mitsutsu shinowan''
|
:There can be no meeting
:Face to face with him.
:Arise, O clouds,
:Hover above Stone River
:That I may watch and remember.
|-
|}
There is no river named "Ishikawa" near the present Kamoyama;{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=116}} Saitō explained this as "Ishikawa" perhaps being an archaic name for upper part of another river.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1pp=116–117}}

An unknown member of the [[Tajihi clan]]{{efn|Keene (1999, p. 117) refers to the poet as "Tajihi no Mabito", but Mabito/[[Mahito]] was a ''[[kabane]]'' held by all members of the Tajihi clan, and one of Keene's sources, Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake (1971, p. 182) states that the given name of the "Tajihi no Mahito" who composed this poem is unknown.}} wrote a response to Yosami in the persona of Hitomaro, very clearly connecting Hitomaro's death to the sea.{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=117}}
{|align=center cellpadding="5" cellspacing="1" style="border:1px solid black; background-color:#e7e8ff;"
|- align=center bgcolor=#d7a8ff
|- 
!''Man'yōgana''{{sfnm|1a1=Tsuru and Moriyama|1y=2012|1p=87}}||Modern Japanese text{{sfnm|1a1=Kojima, Kinoshita and Satake|1y=1971|1p=182}}||Reconstructed Old Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Frellesvig et al.|1y=2017}}||Modern Japanese{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=117}}||English translation{{sfnm|1a1=Keene|1y=1999|1p=117}}
|- valign=top
|
:荒浪尓
:縁来玉乎
:枕尓置
:吾此間有跡
:誰将告
|
:荒波に
:寄り来る玉を
:枕に置き
:我ここにありと
:誰か告げけむ
|
:''aranami ni''
:''yori-kuru tama wo''
:''makura ni oki''
:''ware koko ni ari to''
:''tare ka tuge-na-mu''
|
:''aranami ni''
:''yorikuru tama wo''
:''makura ni oki''
:''ware koko ni ari to''
:''tare ka tsugeken''{{efn|Tsuru and Moriyama (2012, p. 87) give the reading ''tare ka tsugenan''.}}
|
:Who will tell her
:That I lie here,
:My head pillowed
:On the stones brought to shore
:By the rough waves?
|-
|}