Background
Sadaie no Fujiwara was born in 1162. He was the son of Shunzei (Toshinari).
Sadaie no Fujiwara was born in 1162. He was the son of Shunzei (Toshinari).
When ex-Emperor Go-toba revived the Imperial Poetry Bureau in 1201, he was appointed its commissioner. At the order of the ex-emperor, he compiled the anthology Shin Kokin-walcashu and completed the work in 1205.
In his late years, he wrote Rengaf on dialogues in waka, copied books of classic literature and collated the Kokin-wakashu Anthology, Lady Murasaki’s Genji Monogatari, etc. Became a Buddhist priest. His diary is titled Meigetsu. He wrote many books on waka. He is regarded as the greatest of all waka poets, his works greatly influenced other poets. He was most representative of the poetry of the Shm Kokin style.
Hyakunin Isshu, or One Hundred Poems By One Hundred Poets, includes one poem each of one hundred best waka poets. Opinion differs as to who compiled this collection of gems. Some believe it was by Sadaie and others by Ren jo Utsunomiya, elder brother of the wife of Sadaie. The 100 poems, written on 100 cards, are still used for an indoor game in Japan, especially during the New Year season.
People called him Kyogoku Chunagon or Kyogoku-Komon.
