| Ariwara no Motokata | |
| Native Name: | 在原元方 |
| Native Name Lang: | Japanese |
| Language: | Japanese |
| Period: | early Heian |
| Genre: | waka |
| Notablework: | --> |
| Relatives: | Emperor Heizei (great-great grandfather), Fujii no Fujiko (great-great grandmother), Emperor Kanmu (great-great grandfather), Fujiwara no Minamiko (great-great grandmother), Prince Abo (great grandfather), Princess Ito (great grandmother), Ariwara no Narihira (paternal grandfather), Ariwara no Muneyana (father) |
was a Japanese waka poet of the early Heian period.
He was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and thirty-three of his poems were included in poetry collections commissioned by the court.
His birth and death dates are unknown, and the details of his life are also uncertain,[1] but he was the son of Ariwara no Muneyana (died 898), the first son of Ariwara no Narihira (825—880).[1] Who his mother was is also unknown.[1]
According to the, he was adopted by his brother-in-law .[1]
As a courtier, he held the Senior Fifth Rank, although the 14th century attributes to him the Sixth Rank.[1]
He was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses.[1] Thirty-three of his poems were included in court anthologies: fourteen the Kokin Wakashū, eight in the Gosen Wakashū, two in the Shūi Wakashū, and nine more in later anthologies from the Shin Kokin Wakashū on.[1]
The following poem was included as the very first entry in the Kokin Wakashū, indicating the high regard in which the compilers likely held his poetry.[1]
Between one and three of his poems survive in the records of each of several uta-awase gatherings: the, the, the and the .[1] Some of these overlap with the Motokata poems preserved in court anthologies.[1]
In the middle ages there was apparently a private collection of his poems, the,[1] but only a four-leaf fragment is known to exist today.[1]
His poems are characterized by an intellectual style.[1] They make frequent use of .[1]
His poems clearly display the features of the so-called "Kokinshū style".[1]