Hyakunin Isshu No.93 of Yoga Promenade
The poet is Kamakura-no U-daishin. The name means he lived in Kamakura, and his position in the imperial court was U-daijin. His name is Minamoto-no Sanetomo. He was the third Shogun of Kamakura shogunate. It is interesting that “U-daijin” is used for his position. In the imperial court, U-daijin was much higher position than Shogun.
In the twelfth century, Japanese political system changed from being ruled by the imperial court to being ruled by samurai. After the Hogen Rebellion and the Heiji Rebellion, the first samurai to seize power was Taira-no Kiyomori. The clan led by Kiyomori (they were called “Heishi” or “Heike”) occupied the positions in the imperial court like Fujiwara clan used to. Then, Minamoto-no Yoritomo, a son of Minamoto-no Yoshitomo, who was defeated by Kiyomori in Heiji Rebellion, united the samurai in eastern Japan and challenged Heishi clan and defeated them, then became a Shogun. The organization of samurai he built became a new ruling structure outside the imperial court. The organization was based on a kind of contract. Shogun granted territory to his subordinate lords (Gokenin), who promised to go to war in response to the shogun's call. The system looked stable for a while. But it was not stable enough to suppress the struggle to seize power after Yoritomo died. Yoriie, Yoritomo’s eldest son, became the second Shogun. Yoriie's mother's clan, Hojo, and Yoriie's nanny's clan, Hiki, fought and Hojo won. And after a series of unfortunate events including Yoriie's illness, Yoriie was killed. The person who succeeded him as shogun was Yoriie's younger brother Sanetomo, who was 12 years old at the time. Sanetomo was killed by a son of Yoriie at the age of 28.
In the poem, the author wishes that the world would never change the way it is (although he knows it is almost impossible) and describes a sight of a fisherman's boat rowing along the shore being pulled over by a rope. The wish for a thing to remain as it is, and the site of a fisherman's boat being pulled by a rope are quotes from old Japanese poems. In the original poem, it was the young maiden who was wished to remain the same, but Sanetomo wished the world to remain the same, admiring ordinary daily lives of people like the sight of the fisherman's boat. Considering his bloody life, it seems natural that he had such wish.
Hyakunin Isshu No.93 of Yoga Promenade
The poet is Kamakura-no U-daishin. The name means he lived in Kamakura, and his position in the imperial court was U-daijin. His name is Minamoto-no Sanetomo. He was the third Shogun of Kamakura shogunate. It is interesting that “U-daijin” is used for his position. In the imperial court, U-daijin was much higher position than Shogun.
In the twelfth century, Japanese political system changed from being ruled by the imperial court to being ruled by samurai. After the Hogen Rebellion and the Heiji Rebellion, the first samurai to seize power was Taira-no Kiyomori. The clan led by Kiyomori (they were called “Heishi” or “Heike”) occupied the positions in the imperial court like Fujiwara clan used to. Then, Minamoto-no Yoritomo, a son of Minamoto-no Yoshitomo, who was defeated by Kiyomori in Heiji Rebellion, united the samurai in eastern Japan and challenged Heishi clan and defeated them, then became a Shogun. The organization of samurai he built became a new ruling structure outside the imperial court. The organization was based on a kind of contract. Shogun granted territory to his subordinate lords (Gokenin), who promised to go to war in response to the shogun's call. The system looked stable for a while. But it was not stable enough to suppress the struggle to seize power after Yoritomo died. Yoriie, Yoritomo’s eldest son, became the second Shogun. Yoriie's mother's clan, Hojo, and Yoriie's nanny's clan, Hiki, fought and Hojo won. And after a series of unfortunate events including Yoriie's illness, Yoriie was killed. The person who succeeded him as shogun was Yoriie's younger brother Sanetomo, who was 12 years old at the time. Sanetomo was killed by a son of Yoriie at the age of 28.
In the poem, the author wishes that the world would never change the way it is (although he knows it is almost impossible) and describes a sight of a fisherman's boat rowing along the shore being pulled over by a rope. The wish for a thing to remain as it is, and the site of a fisherman's boat being pulled by a rope are quotes from old Japanese poems. In the original poem, it was the young maiden who was wished to remain the same, but Sanetomo wished the world to remain the same, admiring ordinary daily lives of people like the sight of the fisherman's boat. Considering his bloody life, it seems natural that he had such wish.