was a Japanese waka poet of the mid-Heian period. His exact dates of birth and death are unknown[1] [2] [3] [4] but he flourished in the second half of the tenth century.[1] He was one of the Thirty-six Immortals of Poetry[2] [4] and one of his poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.[1] [5]
Because he was a of Tango Province he is occasionally known by the nicknames and .[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] He was known as an eccentric individual[1] [2] with numerous anecdotes told about him.[2] [5] He was not well regarded in his own time but later was recognized as a highly innovative poet,[1] [4] with roughly 90 of his poems appearing in imperial anthologies.[3]
The following poem by him was No. 46 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
| Japanese text | Romanized Japanese[6] | English translation[7] |
由良のとを 渡る舟人 かぢをたえ 行くへも知らぬ 恋の道かな | Yura no to wo wataru funa-bito kaji-wo tae yukue mo shiranu koi no michi kana | Crossing the Straits of Yura the boatman lost the rudder. The boat's adrift not knowing where it goes. Is the course of love like this? |