Hitomaro

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (柿本人麻呂 or 柿本人麿^?) was a Japanese waka poet and aristocrat of the late Asuka period. He was the most prominent of the poets included in the Man'yōshū, and was particularly represented in volumes 1 and 2. He is ranked as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. From the Heian period on, he was often called "Hito-maru" (人丸).

Hitomaro is famed for his long poems, such as "In the sea of ivy clothed Iwami", "The Bay of Tsunu", and "I loved her like the leaves." 19 of his chōka ("long poems") were included in the Man'yōshū and 75 or so tanka ("short poems") were likewise selected. Many of his poems were written on the topics of public occasions; such as his "Lament for Prince Takechi", written as part of the mourning ceremonies for Takechi. Other poems were written on occasions in his life when he was particularly moved: parting from his wife, mourning for his wife, or on seeing a corpse.

His style makes use of figures of speech such as makurakotoba, jokotoba, and ouin (押韻) or rhyme. Among his chōka, he makes use of complex and variant taiku (対句) or antithesis. In his tanka, Hitomaro makes use of nearly 140 makurakotoba, among which half are not seen in previous works, which attests to his originality.In addition, his poetry includes kotodama such as:

In his hymns and elegies, he uses expressions such "Should his highness be a god" (大君は　神にしませば), "Being a god, becoming to a god" (神ながら　神さびせすと), and "Prince of the sun, shining on high" (高照らす　日の皇子) to highly glorify the emperor as an ascendant divinity and express his deeds. While examples of such expressions of the emperor as an ascendant divinity do appear in ancient historical works and folk songs, they are featured so prominently in Hitomaro's works as to make him stand out among all other contemporary poets. Further, such expressions quickly declined in use after Hitomaro, as the national enforcement of ritsuryō regulations between Emperor Tenmu's reign and Jitō's court had encouraged him. In effect, such expressions can be seen as a product of the regulations of the time.

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