Yamabe no Akahito: Biography, Facts and Career

Yamabe no Akahito (山部 赤人 or 山邊 赤人) (fl. 724–736) was a poet of the Nara period in Japan. The Man'yōshū, an ancient anthology, contains 13 chōka ("long poems") and 37 tanka ("short poems") of his. Many of his poems were composed during journeys with Emperor Shōmu between 724 and 736. Yamabe is regarded as one of the kami of poetry, and is called Waka Nisei along with Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. He is noted as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. His contemplation of Mount Fuji across Tago Bay became a popular view depicted by ukiyo-e artists, including Hiroshige and Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The American composer Alan Hovhaness used a text by Yamabe from the Man'yōshū in his cantata Fuji, Op. 182 (1960, rev. 1964).

Quick facts about Yamabe no Akahito

• Full name: Yamabe no Akahito
• Nationality: Japan
• Known as: Author
• Wikidata ID: Q180929

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