Sena no Yukifumi (背奈行文)
SENA no Yukifumi (year of birth and death unknown) was a kajin (waka poet) and a scholar of Myogyo-do (the study of Confucian classics), who lived during the Nara period. He was the son of SENA no Fukutoku. He was said to be the uncle of Musashi no kuni kokushi (the provincial governor of Musashi Province), TAKAKURA no Fukushin. He was ranked Shorokui (Senior Sixth Rank) and served at Daigaku-ryo (Bureau of Education under the Ritsuryo system).
He was the son of SENA no Fukutoku, who was a toraijin (people from overseas, especially from China and Korea, who settled in early Japan and introduced Continental culture to the Japanese) coming from the Royal family of Goguryeo (kingdom of Korea). He was Emperor Shomu's meritorious retainer, at first he was living in Koma Country, Musashi Province. Afterwards, he went up to Kyoto and gained the peerage, using his academic cultural background as advantage. His poems were included in "Manyoshu" (Collection of Ten Thousand Leaves) and "Kaifuso" (Fond Recollections of Poetry) with the name, SENA no gyomon no mahetsukimi (Writing master SENA); one waka poem in "Manyoshu," and two five-character-line poems in "Kaifuso."
Works
Like trees of konotegashiwa (a specie of tree that was often used as a metaphor of two-sided person) in Mt. Nara, which have two faces, these means flatter two sides ("Manyoshu" Vol. 16-3836).