was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. One of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. He produced a private waka collection, the Yoshitaka-shū.
Yoshitaka was born in 954, the son of Fujiwara no Koretada.[1] [2]
He served as .[1] [2] He was the father of the respected calligrapher Yukinari.[1] When his father died, Yoshitaka considered ordaining as a Buddhist monk. In the same year his son was born, which dissuaded him from pursuing a religious career.
He died in 974, at age twenty, of smallpox, on the same day as his twin brother.[1] [2]
Twelve of his poems were included in imperial anthologies, and he was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.[1]
The following poem by him was included as No. 50 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
| Japanese text[3] | Romanized Japanese[4] | English translation[5] |
君がため 惜しからざりし 命さへ 長くもがなと 思ひけるかな | Kimi ga tame oshikarazarishi inochi sae nagaku mogana to omoikeru kana | I always thought I would give my life to meet you only once, but now, having spent a night with you, I wish that I may go on living forever. |
He left a private collection, the .[1] [2]