Fujiwara no Arihira (藤原在衡)
Born in 892 and passed away on November 11, 970, FUJIWARA no Arihira was Kugyo (a top Court official) in the middle of the Heian period. Arihira was the son of FUJIWARA no Ariyori, who was Tajima no kuni no suke (the assistant governor of Tajima Province) and the child of FUJIWARA no Yamakage (Chunagon, or vice-councilor of state), but a theory says Arihira was in real the child of Nyomu, who was Daisozu (the Buddhist priest in the second highest position) and the younger brother of Ariyori. His mother was the daughter of TAKAMUKO no Kimisuke or, some say, the daughter of YOSHIMINE no Takami. He had many sons and daughters, such as FUJIWARA no Kunimitsu and FUJIWARA no Masahime, and Masahime was Koi (a lower-ranking Court lady) of Emperor Murakami. His Court rank and title reached Junii (Junior Second Rank) and Sadaijin (Minister of the Left). His rank was posthumously raised to Juichii (Junior First Rank). He called himself Awata no Sadaijin or Madenokoji Daijin.
In 913, he became "monjosho" (a student of literary studies in the Imperial University) at the age of 22. In 919, he became Kurodo (Chamberlain), and in 924, he got the investiture of Jugoinoge (Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade). Thereafter, he served as Benkan (officials of Grand Council of State) in the Left and Right Division, and then as Shikibu no taifu (Senior Assistant Minister of the Ministry of Ceremonial), and in 941, he rose to Sangi" (Royal Adviser) at the age of 50. He was further promoted to "Jusanmi, Gonchunagon" (Junior Third Rank and provisional vice-councilor of state) in 947, and then to Dainagon (chief councilor of state) in 969, and he at last rose to Udaijin (Minister of the Right) at the age of 78 after MINAMOTO no Takaakira lost the position in the Anna Incident. Moreover, in 970, he reached Sadaijin (Minister of the Left), which was the peak of his career, but he passed away in the same year.
Partly because he received an extraordinary promotion when considering his origin, many anecdotes about him exist. "Kojidan" (Talks of the Past) says, for example, that a prophecy from "Tendo" (the embodiment as a child of a ferocious god who protects the Buddhist Law) at Kurama-dera Temple was made about him in his youth, and that he answered appropriately when the emperor asked him a question thanks to thorough preparation on his part, and that he visited and served the emperor during rain or shine. In 969, he held "Shoshikai" (Arihira's party of "kanshi" [Chinese poetry]) in his own Awata-sanso Villa, and the Chinese poems composed at that time are seen in "Awata Safu Shoshikai shi" (Poems Composed at Shoshikai of Awata no Safu), which are included in "Gunsho ruiju" (A Classified Collection of the Japanese Classics).
In later periods, some clans, including the Adachi one, called themselves descendants of Arihira.