Asukai Masaaki (飛鳥井雅章, 1611–1679) was a Japanese courtier and waka poet of the early Edo period. His Dharma name was Kukyō-in Gendō Bunga (究竟院原道文雅).

Biography

Ancestry, birth and early life

Asukai Masaaki was born on the first day of the third month of Keichō 16 (1611), according to the Kugyō Bunin [ ja]. ^[1] He was the third son of Asukai Masatsune ( ja). ^[1] His two older brothers had both been banished by imperial command ( ja) on the fourth day of the seventh month of 1609, ^[1] but the younger of the two, Masanori (雅宣), was later pardoned, ^[1] and raised the young Masaaki. ^[1]

Political career and poetic achievements

He was a prominent poet at the court of retired emperor Go-Mizunoo, ^[1] and from the end of the Kan'ei era in 1644 until a year before his death more than three decades later he virtually monopolized the setting of the topics of poetic gatherings at the imperial palace. ^[1] In Meireki 3 (1657), he along with three others received the Kokin-juden [ ja] (secret traditions of interpretation of the Kokinshū) from Go-Mizunoo. ^[1] Seven years later, he was permitted to hear the same once again. ^[1]

He was made buke-tensō [ ja] (court intermediary with the samurai class) in Kanbun 10 (1670). ^[1] This position required him to travel back and forth between Kyoto and Kantō, and as a result he had many disciples in the eastern regions, especially among the warrior class. ^[1] He became one of the most prominent waka poets of his era. ^[1]

At the height of his political career, he had attained the Junior First Rank, ^[1] and held the position of Provisional Major Counselor (gon- dainagon). ^[1]

Later life and death

According to the Kugyō Bunin, he died on the twelfth day of the tenth month of Enpō 7 (1679), ^[1] when he was in his 69th year. ^[1] He was cremated at the Kengō-in [ ja] in northern Kyoto, ^[1] and was given the Dharma name was Kukyō-in Gendō Bunga. ^[1]

References

Works cited