A poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods, son-in-law of Jakuren and pupil of Shunzei. A leading member of Go-Toba's poetic circle, he was appointed to the Bureau of Poetry in 1201 and served as one of the compilers of the Shin Kokinshū. Ranked with Teika as the finest poet of the age, he was singled out for praise in Go-Toba's own treatise, and after the retired emperor's exile to Oki he continued to exchange poems with him. He rose to the junior second rank. About 280 of his poems appear in imperial anthologies. His Hyakunin Isshu poem describes the summer purification rite on the Nara stream.
風そよぐ ならの小川の 夕暮れは
みそぎぞ夏の しるしなりける
Kaze soyogu Nara no ogawa no yūgure wa / misogi zo natsu no shirushi narikeru
On this evening when the wind rustles the oak leaves by the Nara brook, autumn already feels near — only the purification rite at the river shows that it is still summer.