The central figure of early Heian poetry. In 905 he led the compilation of the Kokinshū, the first imperial anthology, and wrote its Japanese preface, the founding statement of waka poetics; 102 of his own poems are included, more than any other poet. He served as governor of Tosa, and his account of the return journey, the Tosa Diary, written in kana in a woman's voice, is regarded as the origin of Japanese diary literature. One of the Thirty-Six Immortals, he shaped the elegant, witty style of court poetry for centuries.
人はいさ 心も知らず ふるさとは
花ぞ昔の 香ににほひける
Hito wa isa kokoro mo shirazu furusato wa / hana zo mukashi no ka ni nioikeru
As for people, who knows how their hearts may have changed? But in this village I once knew so well, the plum blossoms bloom with the same fragrance as before.