Minamoto no Kaneyuki (源兼行)
MINAMOTO no Kaneyuki was a man renowned for his penmanship, during the middle of the Heian period, but whose birth and death year is unknown. He rose to Shoshiinoge (Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade) and Governor of Yamato Province. His father MINAMOTO no Enkan was also famous for having good penmanship, who was appointed as Assistant Govenor of Kazusa Province. Kaneyuki was also the descendant of MINAMOTO no Kiyokage who rose to Dainagon (chief councilor of state) and Shonii (Senior Second Rank), and since Kiyokage was born as the sixth prince of Emperor Yozei, Kiyokage belonged to Yozei-Genji (the Minamoto clan whose ancestor was Emperor Yozei). Kaneyuki's father Enkan is said to have been Kiyokage's grandson, or great-grandson.
Kaneyuki was admired as having the best penmanship at the time, so he was in charge of making a clean copy of Iki (the document given to a person when a rank was conferred on him) and Johyobun (the petition to the Emperor), and also in charge of writing Ganmon (the Imperial prayer document for a blessing) and the letters on Shikishigata (the colored, square-shaped paper inscribed with verses) and the letters in the frame held at the gate, etc. Throughout the three-emperor reigns of Goreizei, Gosanjo and Shirakawa, Kaneyuki was in charge of writing the letters on Shikishigata of Yukisuki no byobu (Folding screens used during the Daijoe - court banquets held during the first harvest festival Daijo-sai after the accession of a new emperor). The letters on Shikishigami of Uji Byodo-in Temple Hoo-do (Phoenix Hall), also called Amida-do (Amitabha Buddha Hall), were written by Kaneyuki, and based on the handwriting of these letters, a cluster of ancient writings, such as 'Katsura-bon Manyoshu' (Katsura manuscript of 'Manyoshu,' the oldest anthology of waka in Japan) and the Second 'Koyagire' (Fragment from 'Kokin Waka Shu,' the poetry anthology), are supposed to have been handwritten by Kaneyuki.