Kakinomoto no Hitomaro - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Japanese: 柿本人麻呂 - かきのもとのひとまろ

Dates of birth and death unknown. A representative poet of the Manyoshu. Also written as Hitomaro. Family name Asomi. Active before the Nara period (710-). As there is a poem (volume 10, poem 2033) written in the "Hitomaro Collection" in the "Koshin Year" (9th year of Emperor Tenmu's reign = 680) it is known that he was active during the reign of Emperor Tenmu (673-686). Also, the last work with a known year of composition is the Elegy of Princess Asuka (volume 2, poems 196-198) written in 700 (4th year of Emperor Mommu's reign). He was active mainly during the reigns of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jito, but his major works are concentrated during the reign of Empress Jito (686-697).

[Kanno Shitaka]

Hitomaro as an official

Hitomaro's activities began during the reign of Emperor Tenmu, but details of his position and history as an official are not known. The Iwami Soumonka (Iwami Love Song) (Volume 2, poems 131-139) confirms that he was once posted to Iwami Province (Shimane Prefecture), and some glimpses of his life as an official can be seen in the Seto Inland Sea Journey Song (Volume 3, poems 249-256, 303-304). In addition, there is a poem about his near death in Iwami Province, "Perhaps my sister is waiting for me, not wanting to know that I am lying on the rocks of Mt. Kamoyama" (Volume 2, poem 223), so there is a strong theory that he was posted to Iwami in his later years and died there, but the Iwami Soumonka has characteristics that should be considered to have been written in the first half of the reign of Empress Jitō, both in terms of expression (pillow words and couplets) and style (tanka). The near-death song is thought to have been linked to Iwami in the legendary development of Hitomaro, making his death in Iwami hard to believe.

[Kanno Shitaka]

Hitomaro's Anthology of Poems and the Poet Hitomaro

Hitomaro's activities as a poet can be seen through the poems in the "Hitomaro Poems" (364 poems in the Manyoshu) and those that clearly state "written by Hitomaro" in the title, so-called "poems composed by Hitomaro" (84 poems in total). The "Hitomaro Poems" no longer exists, but they are known in the form that they have been incorporated into the Manyoshu, and are thought to have been written down from the reign of Tenmu to the beginning of the reign of Jito. The poems composed by Hitomaro, as far as dates are concerned, span from 689 (the 3rd year of the reign of Empress Jito) to 700 (the 4th year of the reign of Emperor Mommu). The "Hitomaro Poems" are considered to precede the poems composed by Hitomaro, and together they provide a complete picture of Hitomaro as a poet.

The "Hitomaro Collection" is important in examining the development of the poet Hitomaro, but what is noteworthy is that in the "Hitomaro Collection," there are changes in the way poems are written, which are inseparable from the development of the poems. In other words, there are two types of poems: those that write only a few particles and auxiliary verbs (abbreviated poems) and those that write more (non-abbreviated poems). It can be said that the poems were written in abbreviated style and then in non-abbreviated style, and that the poems matured as lyric poems with the development of the writing style. The older abbreviated poems are particularly rich in folk songs, such as "In the fields where I pound, there are many millet plants, but I have chosen none, and I lie alone at night" (Volume 11, poem 2476). In the non-abbreviated style, Hitomaro breaks away from such poems and opens up a realm of lyrics and lyricism unique to him. "Although we are on a rough, salty shore, my younger sister comes along as a companion, passing by the water" (Volume 9, Poem 1797), etc.

[Kanno Shitaka]

Poetry by Hitomaro

Hitomaro's poems were created by taking the developments Hitomaro had made in the "Hitomaro Collection" and further developing them. The earliest of Hitomaro's poems is the Omi Koto Song (Volume 1, 29-31), which is thought to have been written in 689. It is clear that the two tanka poems in the collection, "Even if the Karasaki of Shiga in Sasanamino is fortunate, I am waiting for the boats of the people of Omiya" and "Even if the great waters of Shiga in Sasanamino are stagnant, I will still be able to praise my former selves," were written in a style similar to the "Shioketatsu" style of non-formal poetry. Hitomaro created the above-mentioned poems by maturing this style of singing, firmly making it his own and making it into a methodology. This also established Hitomaro's unique style of poetry. The two tanka poems in the Omi Arato Poems and one tanka poem in the Iwami Aimon Poems, "The bamboo leaves are beautiful and the mountains are swaying, but I still miss my sister" (Volume 2, Poem 133), are solemn and profound, and the melody that swirls with excitement and passion is unparalleled. They are in the style of Hitomaro.

Hitomaro composed mostly choka poems. Of the 84 poems, 18 were choka poems, and the remaining 36 were tanka poems composed as tanka. The variety of content of the poems suggests that Hitomaro was a court poet, and allows us to imagine his activities on special occasions. These choka poems were created in response to the demands of the Jitō court for poems to be a unique culture that could rival Chinese poetry. These choka poems opened up new areas of poetry, such as choka poems on the subject of love affairs, as exemplified by the Iwami Love Affairs Song, a song about a man leaving Iwami Province to leave his wife and travel to the capital, and elegies with solemn tones that mourn the deaths of princes at the funeral palace, such as the Elegy for Prince Kusakabe (Volume 2, poems 167-169) and the Elegy for Prince Takechi (Volume 2, poems 199-202).

For example, "Under the heavens, where my great lord rests, Though the land is far and wide, The mountains and rivers are pure and pure, And his heart is in the fields of Akitsu, Yoshino, Where the flowers fall, The palace pillars are strong, And the people of the great palace line up in boats to cross the river in the morning, And race across the river in the evening, The river never stops, And the mountains are so high that we know how high they are, And we may never tire of looking at the palace waterfall" (Volume 1, Poem 36), was written during the Imperial Visit to Yoshino, but it is solemn and magnificent, making full use of pillow words and couplets, yet it never loses its tension. It is an unparalleled style of singing, and the overflowing tone of the song can be said to have been born from embodying the spirit of the times.

[Kanno Shitaka]

Hitomaro's Achievement

In terms of style, Hitomaro was the first to create structures with multiple tanka and multiple long poems, and in terms of expression, he created many new pillow words, making his contributions enormous. It is no exaggeration to say that Hitomaro marked a turning point in the history of waka poetry. In the broader history of Japanese literature, Hitomaro's place should be seen as the turning point from oral recitation to writing. In his poetry, Hitomaro embodied the shift from literature that was passed down orally to written literature, a fundamentally new type of literature. This was the biggest, most stressful turning point in literary history, and Hitomaro's literary appeal as a poet who embodied this is great.

Hitomaro's influence on later generations was so great that he was already looked up to as a model by the time of the Man'yoshu. Representative poets of the Nara period, such as Kasanokanamura and Yamabe no Akahito, wrote poems clearly under the influence of Hitomaro, and Otomo no Yakamochi praised him, calling him "the gate of the mountain persimmon." Later, he was called the saint of poetry, and was even worshiped as a god of poetry.

[Kanno Shitaka]

"Man'yoshu Notation Theory" by Inaoka Koji (1976, Hanawa Shobo)" ▽ "Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Study: Poetry Collection, Vol. 1" by Watase Masatada (1973, Ohfusha)" ▽ "Study of Manyo Court Poets" by Hashimoto Tatsuo (1975, Kasama Shoin) ▽ "Man'yoshu Poets and Works, Vol. 1" by Ito Hiroshi (1975, Hanawa Shobo) ▽ "Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Study: Literature of the Island Palace" by Watase Masatada (1976, Ohfusha)

[Reference] | Kakimoto Asomi Hitomaro's Poetry Collection

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (3) Poet: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Kakinomoto no Hitomaro)
Upper verse: Ashihikino yamadori no wo no shidari wo no (tail of a mountain bird) Lower verse: Ashihikino yamadori no wo no shidari wo no (tail of a mountain bird) Naganaga shiyo wo hitori kamo nemu Fixed character (fixed character): Character (sound) that specifies the poem / Ashi Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (Kakinomoto no Hitomaro) Hishikawa Moronobu (illustrator) and others, Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, 1680 (Enpo 8), National Diet Library possession

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (3) Poet/Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (…

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

生没年未詳。『万葉集』の代表的歌人。人麿とも書く。姓は朝臣(あそみ)。奈良朝（710～）以前に活動した。「人麻呂歌集」歌に「庚辰(こうしん)年」（天武(てんむ)天皇9年＝680）作の歌（巻10・2033歌）があるので、天武朝（673～686）にすでに活動していたことが知られる。また、700年（文武天皇4）作の明日香皇女挽歌(あすかのひめみこばんか)（巻2・196～198歌）が、作歌年時のわかる作品として最後のものになる。天武・持統(じとう)朝を中心に、文武(もんむ)朝にかけて活動したのであるが、主要な作品は持統朝（686～697）に集中している。

［神野志隆光］

官人としての人麻呂

人麻呂の活動は天武朝に始まるが、官人としての地位、足跡の詳細はわからない。石見相聞歌(いわみそうもんか)（巻2・131～139歌）によって石見国（島根県）に赴任したことがあったと認められたり、瀬戸内海旅の歌（巻3・249～256歌、303～304歌）などに官人生活の一端をうかがったりすることができる程度である。なお、石見国での臨死歌とする「鴨山(かもやま)の岩根しまける我をかも知らにと妹(いも)が待ちつつあるらむ」（巻2・223歌）があることから、晩年に石見に赴任し、石見で死んだとする説が有力だが、石見相聞歌は持統朝前半の作とみるべき特徴を、表現上（枕詞(まくらことば)・対句）も様式上（反歌）も備えている。臨死歌は、人麻呂の伝説化のなかで石見に結び付けられたものと思われ、石見での死は信じがたい。

［神野志隆光］

人麻呂歌集と歌人人麻呂

歌人としての人麻呂の活動は、「人麻呂歌集」歌（『万葉集』中に364首）と、題詞に人麻呂作と明記するもの、いわゆる人麻呂作歌（延べ84首）とを通じてみることができる。「人麻呂歌集」は現存しないが、『万葉集』に取り込まれた形で知ることができ、天武朝から持統朝初めにかけて筆録されたとみられる。人麻呂作歌は、年時分明のものでは689年（持統天皇3）から700年（文武天皇4）にわたる。「人麻呂歌集」を人麻呂作歌に先行するものとして、両者をあわせて歌人としての人麻呂の全体像をみることができるのである。

　歌人人麻呂の展開をみるうえで「人麻呂歌集」は重要であるが、注目されるのは、「人麻呂歌集」のなかで、歌の表記に変化があり、それが歌の発展と不可分だということである。つまり、助詞・助動詞を少なくしか表記しないもの（略体歌）と、より多く表記するもの（非略体歌）と、2類あるが、略体歌から非略体歌へと書き継がれたと認められ、その表記の展開とともに歌が叙情詩としての成熟を遂げていったとみることができるのである。より古い略体歌にはとくに民謡的な歌が多い。「打つ田に稗(ひえ)はしあまたありといへど択(えら)えし我(われ)そ夜一人ぬる」（巻11・2476歌）など。非略体ではそうした歌から脱却して、人麻呂独自の歌詞と叙情の境地とを開く。「塩けたつ荒磯(ありそ)にはあれど行く水の過ぎにし妹(いも)がかたみとそ来(こ)し」（巻9・1797歌）など。

［神野志隆光］

人麻呂作歌

人麻呂作歌は、このような「人麻呂歌集」のなかで人麻呂の遂げた展開を受け、これをさらに推進する方向でなされていく。人麻呂作歌のなかでもっとも早い作は、689年作とみられる近江荒都(おうみこうと)歌（巻1・29～31歌）であるが、その2首の反歌「ささなみの志賀(しが)の唐崎(からさき)幸(さき)くあれど大宮人(おほみやひと)の舟待ちかねつ」「ささなみの志賀(しが)の大わだ淀(よど)むとも昔の人にまたもあはめやも」は、非略体歌の「塩けたつ」の歌のような歌い方のうえになされたことは明らかであろう。そうした歌い方を成熟させ、しっかりと自分のものにして方法化していくことで、前記のような歌は生み出されたのである。それは人麻呂の独自な歌調の定着でもあった。近江荒都歌の2首の反歌や、石見相聞歌中の反歌の1首「笹の葉はみ山もさやにさやげども我は妹思ふ別れ来ぬれば」（巻2・133歌）の、沈痛重厚で、心の昂(たか)まり・激情を渦巻くように投げかける調べはたぐいがない。人麻呂調というべきものである。

　人麻呂作歌は、長歌を中心とする。84首のうち、長歌が18首、残りの短歌も36首まで反歌としてなされたものである。その多彩な内容は人麻呂を宮廷歌人ととらえる説もあるように、晴れの場での人麻呂の活動を想像させる。持統朝の宮廷が要求した、中国の詩に対抗できるような独自の文化としての歌ということにこたえてつくりだされていったのがこれらの長歌であったが、石見国から妻と別れて上京するときの歌という石見相聞歌に代表される相聞を主題とする長歌、草壁皇子(くさかべのおうじ)挽歌（巻2・167～169歌）、高市皇子(たけちのおうじ)挽歌（巻2・199～202歌）のような皇子たちの殯宮(ひんきゅう)に際してその死を悼み悲しむ荘重な響きをもつ挽歌など、新しい歌の境地がそこで開かれた。

　たとえば、「やすみしし我が大君の　聞こしをす天の下に　国はしもさはにあれども　山川の清き河内(かふち)と　御心を吉野の国の　花散らふ秋津の野辺に　宮柱太しきませば　ももしきの大宮人は　舟並(な)めて朝川渡り　舟競ひ夕川渡る　この川の絶ゆる事なく　この山のいや高知らす　みなそそく滝のみやこは　見れど飽かぬかも」（巻1・36歌）は、吉野行幸のときの作だが、枕詞・対句を駆使して重々しく華麗で、しかも緊張を失うことがない。比類ない歌いぶりであり、その歌調のみなぎりは、時代の精神を体現して生まれたといえよう。

［神野志隆光］

人麻呂の達成

様式のうえでも複数反歌、複数長歌の構成などが初めて生み出され、表現のうえでも、多数の新しい枕詞が創出されるなど、人麻呂の果たしたものはきわめて大きい。人麻呂を通じて和歌史が転換するといっても過言ではない。大きく日本の文学史のうえでいえば、口誦(こうしょう)から記載への転換という点で人麻呂の位置をみるべきである。口から口へ受け継がれた文学から、書く文学という根本的に新しい質の文学への転換を歌において体現するのが人麻呂である。文学史にとってもっとも大きな、緊張に富んだ転換期であり、それを体現する歌人として人麻呂の文学的魅力は大きい。

　なお、人麻呂の後代へ与えた影響は圧倒的に大きく、『万葉集』の時代にすでに模範として仰がれていた。奈良朝の代表的歌人である笠金村(かさのかなむら)や山部赤人(やまべのあかひと)は明らかに人麻呂の影響のもとに作歌し、大伴家持(おおとものやかもち)は「山柿(さんし)の門」とよんで彼を賛仰した。のちに歌聖といわれ、さらには歌神として祀(まつ)られるに至った。

［神野志隆光］

『稲岡耕二著『万葉表記論』（1976・塙書房）』▽『渡瀬昌忠著『柿本人麻呂研究　歌集編　上』（1973・桜楓社）』▽『橋本達雄著『万葉宮廷歌人の研究』（1975・笠間書院）』▽『伊藤博著『万葉集の歌人と作品　上』（1975・塙書房）』▽『渡瀬昌忠著『柿本人麻呂研究――島の宮の文学』（1976・桜楓社）』

[参照項目] | 柿本朝臣人麻呂歌集

小倉百人一首(3)　歌人／柿本人麻呂（柿本人丸）
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小倉百人一首(3)　歌人／柿本人麻呂（…

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