late Heian period · 1041–1111Ōe no Masafusa

A late Heian scholar-statesman and poet, great-grandson of Ōe no Masahira and Akazome Emon. A child prodigy, he served three emperors as tutor and rose to Provisional Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu. Renowned for his encyclopedic learning, he wrote works on court ceremonial, a collection of anecdotes, and pioneering accounts of courtesans and puppeteers; he is said to have instructed the warrior Minamoto no Yoshiie in strategy. About 115 of his poems appear in imperial anthologies. His Hyakunin Isshu poem asks the spring haze not to rise and hide the distant mountain cherries.