参議雅経さんぎまさつね

み吉野よしのの
山やまの秋風あきかぜ
さ夜よふけて
ふるさと寒さむく
衣ころもうつなり

ふるさとさ
むくころも
うつなり

みよ

Poem 94: み吉野よしのの山やまの秋風あきかぜさ夜よふけて
ふるさと寒さむく衣ころもうつなり
Author: Councillor Masatsune (1170–1221)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashū, Autumn

English Verse Translation: Around Mount Miyoshino's crest The autumn winds blow drear; The villagers are beating cloth, Their merry din I hear, This night so cold and clear.
— William N. Porter, 1909

Modern Translation: On an autumn night, the mountain wind of Yoshino blows cold. In the old village, I can hear the sound of someone beating cloth.

Commentary: Written on the theme of beating cloth (tōi): striking damp cloth with a wooden mallet to set its folds and give it shine. The poem borrows from Sakanoue no Korenori's poem about snow on the Yoshino mountains and the growing cold in the old capital. The image of beating cloth may also come from a Chinese poem by Li Bai.

About the Poet: Fujiwara no Masatsune was a master of kemari (court football) and founded the Asukai school of the game. He studied waka under Fujiwara no Toshinari and was chosen as a compiler of the Shin Kokin Wakashū.

Poem Illustration: This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).

Asukai Masatsune: A Short Timeline

1170: Born as a son of Fujiwara no Yoritsune
1180: Given Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
1197: Pardoned for an offense, returns to the capital, and becomes a Chamberlain (Jijū)
1201: Joins the Office of Poetry and is chosen to compile the Shin Kokin Wakashū
1208: Recognized for his skill at kemari (court football)
1220: Becomes Councillor (Sangi)
1221: Dies

Councillor Masatsune's Family Tree and Relationship Chart

Hyakunin Isshu poem number (click to go to the poem page)
Generations left out (other theories exist)
＝Marriage

100%

Fujiwara no Masatsune was a master of kemari (court football) and is regarded as the founder of the Asukai school of kemari. His grandfather, Fujiwara no Yorisuke, is regarded as the founder of the Nanba and Asukai families, both families of kemari.

When Minamoto no Yoritomo and his brother Yoshitsune came into conflict, Masatsune's father, Nanba Yoritsune, was exiled because he was close to Yoshitsune. Masatsune too was punished along with him and taken to the Kamakura shogunate, but Yoritomo, the first shogun, thought highly of his talent for waka and kemari. This led Masatsune to form close ties with the second shogun, Minamoto no Yoriie, and the third shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo.

Masatsune also became Minamoto no Yoritomo's adopted son (yūshi), and through this connection he married the daughter of Ōe no Hiromoto, a powerful leading official of the Kamakura shogunate.

Appendix

Beating Cloth: Suzuki Harunobu, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

This ukiyo-e print, Fulling Cloth at the Jewel River in Settsu Province (Tōi no Tamagawa, Settsu no meisho), is by Suzuki Harunobu (1724–1770), an ukiyo-e artist of the Edo period. It shows cloth being beaten with a wooden mallet (kinuta).
Li Bai's Chinese Poem: Masatsune is thought to have based his poem on the third of Li Bai's four "Songs of Midnight in the Wu Style" (Ziye Wu Ge).

In Chinese

長安ちょうあん一片月いっぺんのつき、
万戸ばんこ擣衣声ころもをうつのこえ。
秋風しゅうふう吹ふいて不尽つきず、
総すべて是これ玉關情ぎょっかんのじょう。
何日いずれのひか平胡虜こりょをたいらげて、
良人りょうにん罷遠征えんせいをやめん。 Ziye Wu Ge, Li Bai

In English

Over Chang'an hangs a sliver of moon,
and from every house comes the sound of beating cloth.
The autumn wind blows on without end,
and all of it brings thoughts of husbands serving at the Jade Gate Pass.
When will our husbands defeat the northern tribes,
end their long campaign, and come home?
Masatsune's Best-Known Poem: The next poem was written on the theme "falling leaves" at the Kasuga Shrine poetry contest. It is known as Masatsune's best work.
"Katsura" is a kakekotoba (a word with two meanings) for both Mount Katsuragi and masaki no kazura (Asian star jasmine).

In Japanese

移うつりゆく雲くもに嵐あらしの声こえすなり
散ちるか正木まさきの葛城かつらぎの山やま utsuriyuku kumoniarashino koesunari
chirukamasakino katsuraginoyama Shin Kokin Wakashū, Fujiwara no Masatsune

In English

Watching the clouds race by, I seem to hear the sound of a storm. Are the leaves of the star jasmine falling on Mount Katsuragi?
Shiramine Jingū Shrine: Shiramine Jingū stands on the site of the Asukai family's mansion. It is connected with the Asukai family, known for waka and kemari, and so with two Hyakunin Isshu poets: Asukai Masatsune (Poem 94) and Retired Emperor Sutoku (Poem 77), the shrine's deity. See it on the map

(Photos taken August 8, 2026)