Yamabe no Akahito - Yamabe no Akahito

Dates of birth and death unknown. A poet of the Nara period. Works with clear production dates are limited to those produced between 724 (Jinki 1) and 736 (Tenpyo 8). The Yamabe clan began when Iyonokumebe no Odate was given the surname Yamabe no Muraji in recognition of his service to Emperors Kenso and Ninken during their difficult times. A local clan whose occupation included forest management, he changed his surname to Sukune in 683 (Emperor Tenmu 12). Akahito left behind 13 long poems and 37 short poems in the Manyoshu. He was active as a court poet in the Shomu period along with Kasanokanamura and Kurumamochi no Chitose, but he did not produce any lengthy choka poems like those of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, and his long poems consisted of only short poems of around twenty lines at most, with many gaps in each poem. Akahito's personality, which was adept at expressing gentle and elegant emotions through simple poems and which seemed more suited to tanka than choka. Of course, there are excellent works such as long poems about Mt. Fuji, and beautiful couplets such as "In the morning clouds, the cranes are in disarray, in the evening mist, the cranes are noisy" that praise the ancient capital of Asuka, but there are many excellent works in the tanka of long poems accompanying the imperial journey, such as "As the night of Nubatama fades, the plover cries on the clear riverbank where the long-distance trees grow" that sing of nature objectively without using subjective language. It is because of such works that Akahito is called a landscape poet, but apart from these, there are also works such as "Ashihiki no yamazakura hana hi araite koku sakitarabaitaku koihime ya mo" that are mainly interesting for their conceptual ideas, and they have the characteristics of a forerunner of the intellectual style that came after the "Kokinshu". It is said that Otomo no Yakamochi's praise of Hitomaro as "Sanshi no Mon" (Man'yoshu, Volume 17) was likely referring to Hitomaro and Akahito, and it is also widely known that he is referred to alongside Hitomaro in the preface to the Kokinshu, suggesting the great influence he had on later generations.

[Koji Inaoka]

"Manyo Theory Collection 2" by Katsuhiko Shimizu (1980, Ohfusha) " "Manyoshu Authors and Works" by Tomohide Gomi (1982, Iwanami Shoten)" "Seminar on Manyo Poets and Their Works Vol. 7, Yamabe no Akahito and Takahashi no Mushimaro" (2001, Izumi Shoin), planned and edited by Takamitsu Kanno and Nobuyuki Sakamoto"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年未詳。奈良時代の歌人。制作年代の明らかな作品は、724年（神亀1）から736年（天平8）までに限られている。山部氏は、顕宗(けんそう)・仁賢(にんけん)両天皇の受難時代に奉仕した功により、伊豫来目部小楯(いよのくめべのおだて)が山部連(やまべのむらじ)の姓(かばね)を賜ったのに始まる。山林の管理などを職とした地方豪族で、683年（天武天皇12）に改姓して宿禰(すくね)となった。赤人は『万葉集』に長歌13首、短歌37首を残す。笠金村(かさのかなむら)、車持千年(くるまもちのちとせ)とともに聖武(しょうむ)朝の宮廷歌人として活躍したが、長歌は柿本人麻呂(かきのもとのひとまろ)のように長大な作はなく、最大でも二十数句の小長歌にすぎず、一首中のくぎれも少なくない。温雅な感情を景に託して平明に歌うことを得意とした赤人の性格は、長歌より短歌に適していたらしい。もちろん富士山を詠んだ長歌のような佳作もあるし、明日香(あすか)古京をたたえた「朝雲に　鶴(つる)は乱れ　夕霧に　かはづは騒く」のような美しい対句もみられるが、主観語を用いず自然を客観的に歌った「ぬばたまの夜のふけゆけば久木(ひさぎ)生ふる清き河原に千鳥しば鳴く」など、行幸従駕(じゅうが)の長歌の反歌に秀作が多い。赤人を叙景歌人とよぶのは、そのような作品によるのであるが、これとは別に観念的な発想のおもしろみを主とする「あしひきの山桜花日並べてかく咲きたらばいたく恋ひめやも」のような作もあり、『古今集』以後の知巧的作風の先駆の性格をもつ。大伴家持(やかもち)が「山柿(さんし)之門」（『万葉集』巻17）とたたえたのは、人麻呂と赤人をさすのであろうといわれ、また『古今集』序に人麻呂と並称されているのも広く知られるところで、後代への影響の大きさを思わせる。

［稲岡耕二］

『清水克彦著『万葉論集　二』（1980・桜楓社）』▽『五味智英著『万葉集の作家と作品』（1982・岩波書店）』▽『神野志隆光・坂本信幸企画・編『セミナー万葉の歌人と作品第7巻　山部赤人・高橋虫麻呂』（2001・和泉書院）』

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