The greatest poet and scholar of medieval Japan, son of Fujiwara no Shunzei and the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu itself. Discovered by the retired Emperor Go-Toba, he served as a compiler of the Shin Kokinshū and later compiled the Shin Chokusenshū alone, rising to Provisional Middle Counselor. His treatises on poetics defined the ideals of ethereal beauty and deep feeling, and his critical editions of The Tale of Genji, the Tosa Diary and other classics preserved them for posterity. His diary, the Meigetsuki, spans some fifty-six years. His own Hyakunin Isshu poem, in a woman's voice, burns like seaweed salt with waiting for one who does not come.
来ぬ人を まつほの浦の 夕なぎに
焼くや藻塩の 身もこがれつつ
Konu hito o Matsuho no ura no yūnagi ni / yaku ya moshio no mi mo kogaretsutsu
Waiting for someone who does not come, I burn with longing like the seaweed salt-fires smoldering in the evening calm of Matsuho Bay.