Fujiwara no Toshitada (藤原俊忠)
FUJIWARA no Toshitada (1073 - August 9, 1123) was a Court noble and a tanka (thirty-one syllables' poem) poet in the late Heian period. He was the second son of Dainagon (Major Counselor) FUJIWARA no Tadaie.
Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank), Gon Chunagon (a provisional vice-councilor of state)
He called himself Nijo.
Personal profile
In 1086, he was promoted to Jiju (Chamberlain). In April 1106, he was appointed Kurodo no to (Head Chamberlain) Sachujo (Middle Captain of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards); he became Sangi (Councillor) in January of the next year. In 1114, he was raised to Jusanmi (Junior Third Rank), and finally promoted to Gon Chunagon (a provisional vice-councilor of state) in 1122.
In the reign of Emperor Horikawa, he did splendid work as a leading tanka poet; he was associated with other contemporary poets, such as MINAMOTO no Toshiyori and FUJIWARA no Mototoshi. In 1104, he held 'Sakon no Gon no Chujo Toshitada Asonke no Utaawase' (a poetry contest sponsored by Provisional Middle Captain of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards Toshitada of Asonke (a family of high-ranking court nobles)) in his own residence inviting those poets mentioned before. He left a private edition of poems called "Toshitada shu." Including his three tanka poems in "Kinyo Wakashu" (Kinyo Collection of Japanese Poems) (the second version), his other twenty-nine tanka poems were nominated for Chokusen Wakashu (anthologies of Japanese Poetry compiled by Imperial command) from "Kinyo Wakashu" onward.
He was a man of integrity; he had never begged for promotion when he was finally appointed Gon Chunagon after sixteen long years of service as Sangi.
In this regard, by comparison with the case of MINAMOTO no Akimasa, who was ultimately raised to Gon Chunagon after his incessant demands for promotion, "Kojidan" (Talks of the Past) paid tribute to him saying, 'Lord Toshitada was the first person that became a Court noble without giving any account of his circumstances.'