Prince Kaneakira

Japanese: 兼明親王 - かねあきらしんのう

Year of death: September 26, 1st year of Eien (October 21, 987)
Year of birth: Enki 14 (914)
He was a member of the imperial family and a nobleman in the early Heian period. He was called Mikohida and Zenchusho-o. He was the son of Emperor Daigo and his mother was the daughter of Councillor Fujiwara Sugane, Princess Saii. At the age of seven, he was given the surname Minamoto and became a commoner. When his half-brother, the Minister of the Left, Minamoto Takaakira, who was the same age as him, was demoted in the Anwa Incident (969) while he was Dainagon, he was temporarily barred from entering the palace, but in Tenroku 2 (971), he was promoted to Minister of the Left, skipping the Minister of the Right. After seven years as Minister of the Left, he was returned to his position as an Imperial Prince by imperial decree and demoted to the position of Minister of the Middle Office, second rank. It is believed that this measure was taken by the Chancellor Fujiwara Kanemichi, who had been plotting to make Minister of the Right, Yoritada, the Chancellor, and had influenced Emperor En'yu. He expressed his anger and grief at this time in the poem "Tokiyu no Fu" (included in Honcho Bunsui). He later retired to Saga, where he lived an elegant life at Yuzo (Ogura) Palace on the banks of the Oi River. His Chinese poems that describe the beautiful scenery of this area, along with "Iketei-ki," written when he was 46, are a good example of his talent as a Chinese poet. He was also a skilled calligrapher on a par with Fujiwara no Sari and Yukinari, and is said to have copied "Gosen Wakashu" (Eiga Monogatari), but this work no longer exists.

(Oboriya Hisashi)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

没年：永延1.9.26(987.10.21)
生年：延喜14(914)
平安前期の皇族で公卿。御子左,前中書王と称す。醍醐天皇の皇子で母は参議藤原菅根の娘更衣淑姫。7歳のとき源姓を賜り臣籍に下った。大納言のときに起きた安和の変(969)で同年齢の異母兄左大臣源高明が左遷された際,一時,昇殿を止められたが,天禄2(971)年,右大臣をとび越えて左大臣に昇進した。左大臣にあること7年,勅命により,ふたたび親王に戻され,二品中務卿におとされた。この措置は関白藤原兼通が右大臣であった頼忠を関白にするために画策して円融天皇を動かしたとみられる。このときの悲憤を吐露したのが「【G7EDF裘賦/ときゆうのふ】」(『本朝文粋』所収)。のち嵯峨の地に隠棲し,大井川の畔に雄蔵(小倉)殿を営み文雅な余生を送った。この地の風光明媚を詠じた漢詩は,46歳のときの作「池亭記」とともに彼の漢詩人としての才能をよく伝えている。また藤原佐理,行成と肩を並べる能書家であり,『後撰和歌集』を書写したというが(『栄花物語』),現存しない。

(朧谷寿)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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