Ki no Tomonori (紀友則) (c. 850 – c. 904) was an early Heian ''

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

'' poet of the court, a member of the ''sanjūrokkasen'' or

Thirty-six Poetry Immortals The are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The oldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is '' Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kash ...

. He was a compiler of the ''

Kokin Wakashū The , commonly abbreviated as , is an early anthology of the '' waka'' form of Japanese poetry, dating from the Heian period. An imperial anthology, it was conceived by Emperor Uda () and published by order of his son Emperor Daigo () in abo ...

'', though he certainly did not see it to completion as the anthology includes a eulogy to him composed by

Ki no Tsurayuki was a Japanese author, poet and court noble of the Heian period. He is best known as the principal compiler of the ''Kokin Wakashū'', also writing its Japanese Preface, and as a possible author of the '' Tosa Diary'', although this was publish ...

, his cousin and colleague in the compilation effort. Ki no Tomonori is the author of several poems in the ''Kokin Wakashū'', and a few of his poems appear in later official collections. A collection of his poems from various sources appeared as the ''tomonori shū''. Tomonori's most famous ''

'' is "Hisakata no", included in

Hyakunin Isshu is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...

that was compiled in the 13th century:

Hisakata no (From afar literally, but a

pillow word are figures of speech used in Japanese poetry in association with certain words. The set phrase can be thought of as a "pillow" for the noun or verb it describes, although the actual etymology is not fully known. It can also describe association ...

for light) Hikari nodokeki (Of peaceful light) Haru no hi ni (On the day of spring) Shizugokoro naku (Without quiet minds) Hana no chiruran (Do the cherry flowers fall?)

This waka has been made a choral song "Hisakata No (In the Peaceful Light)" by Ruth Morris GrayPublished by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., U.S.A., 2009 and is sung by various choral groups of the world.

References

Japanese poets Hyakunin Isshu poets Ki clan 850s births 900s deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain {{Japan-writer-stub