Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Ranked first in the early poetry collection Man’yōshū and considered one of the Thirty-six Immortal Poets, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (d. ca. 710) is among the best known masters of Japanese-style poetry. Portraits of the beloved poet were treated as religious icons as early as the classical Heian period. The inscription brushed at top left is an ancient poem traditionally associated with Hitomaro: Honobono to Akashi no ura no asagiri ni shima-gakure yuku fune o shi zo omou Dimly, dimly in the morning mist that lies over Akashi Bay, my longings follow with the ship that vanishes behind the distant isle. [Translated by Robert H. Brower and Earl Roy Miner]