Mibu no Udamaro (壬生宇太麿[1] or 壬生宇太麻呂[2]) was a Japanese nobleman and waka poet in the Nara period.

Biography

Mibu no Udamaro, a nobleman and waka poet, was active in the Nara period.[2] His name, Udamaro is variously written 宇太麿,[1] 宇陁麿,[1] 宇太麻呂,[3] 宇多麻呂,[2] 宇陁麻呂,[2] 宇陀麻呂,[4] or 宇太万呂.[4] His kabane was Omi (使主).[5] His birth and death years are unknown.[6]

One early document[lower-alpha 1] records that in the sixth year of Tenpyō (734) he was sent to Izumo Province[5] as a lesser secretary (少外記 shō-geki) and scribe of government documents (公文使録事) in service of the kuni no miyatsuko,[5] when he was of the Senior Seventh Rank, Upper Grade and held the 12th Class in the order of merit (勲十二等).[5] The Man'yōshū indicates[1] that two years later, in the second month of Tenpyō 8[lower-alpha 2], he was dispatched to Silla as a Senior Magistrate (大判官),[5] at which time he was of the Junior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade.[4] The position of Senior Magistrate was third in importance, surpassed only by Ambassador (大使) and Vice-Ambassador (副使).[6] On the way to Silla, his ship made stop-offs at such places as Nagai-no-ura (長井浦) in Higo Province, Kara-no-tomari (韓亭) and Hikitsu-no-tomari (引津亭) in Chikuzen Province, and Takeshiki-no-ura (竹敷浦) in Tsushima, where he composed his poetry.[6] In the first month of the following year, he returned to Japan.[6]

In the fourth month of Tenpyō 10[lower-alpha 3] he was made vice-governor (介 suke) of Kōzuke Province.[6] and in the fourth month of Tenpyō 18[lower-alpha 4] he was made Vice-Governor of the Right (右京亮 ukyō-no-suke).[6] In the fifth month of Tenpyō Shōhō 2[lower-alpha 5] he was made governor of Tajima Province.[6]

Poetry

Poems 3612, 3669, 3674, 3675 and 3702 in the Man'yōshū (Book XV) are attributed to Udamaro.[7] Of these five poems, four are tanka and one is a sedōka.[6] The poems he composed on his way to Silla are all straightforward expressions of the mood of the journey.[6]

Notes

    1. ↑ Book I of the Dai-Nihon Komonjo,[4] one of the Shōsōin texts.[1]
    2. ↑ This month lasted from 17 March to 15 April 736 in the Julian calendar.
    3. ↑ 24 April to 22 May 738.
    4. ↑ 25 April to 24 May 746.
    5. ↑ 9 June to 7July 750.

    References

    Citations

    Works cited

    • Kojima, Noriyuki; Kinoshita, Masatoshi; Satake, Akahiro (1975). Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū Vol. 5; Man'yōshū Vol. 4 日本古典文学全集５ 萬葉集（四） (in Japanese). Tokyo: Shogakukan. ISBN 4-09-657005-2.
    • Nakanishi, Susumu (1985). Man'yōshū Jiten (Man'yōshū zen'yakuchū genbun-tsuki bekkan) (paperback ed.). Tokyo: Kōdansha. ISBN 978-4-06-183651-8.
    • "Mibu no Udamaro" 壬生宇太麻呂. Nihon Jinmei Daijiten Plus (in Japanese). Kodansha. 2015. Retrieved 2019-11-05.
    • Satō, Motonobu (2007). "Mibu no Omi Udamaro". In Ōkuma, Kiichirō; Mori, Atsushi; Harihara, Takayuki (eds.). Man'yōshū Kajin Jiten 万葉集歌人事典 (in Japanese). Vol. 1. Tokyo: Yuzankaku. p. 315. ISBN 978-4639019886.
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