Editing Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (section)

=== 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?
|-
|}