i wish to die
under cheery trees
along with the full moon
in spring in February

It is a Saigyo Tanka that everyone knows.  Hirokawadera Temple, located at the western foot of Mt. Katsuragi at an altitude of 959 meters on the prefectural border between Osaka and Nara, is known as the death place of Saigyo.  It seems to be the death place of Saigyo because Jiun Hoshi, who was called “Ima-Saigyo” in the Edo period 250 years ago, discovered the tomb of Saigyo in this area.  There is no hard evidence.  Saigyo was appointed as      Hokumen no bushi (the Imperial Palace Guards for the north side) at the age of 19, but at that time he must have met Taira Kiyomori, who had already been appointed as  Hokumen no bushi samurai.  I am very interested in what kind of interaction there was between Kiyomori, who later became the most powerful person, and Saigyo, who became a poet representing the times in the world of singing.  Saigyo, who excels in both literary and military arts and was popular with court wives, became a hot topic at that time as to why Saigyo left home at the young age of 23, and it is a mysterious Tanka Poet that has been attracting people’s attention even until now.

願はくは　花の下にて　春死なん　そのきさらぎの　望月のころ

誰もが知る西行の歌です。大阪と奈良の県境にある標高959メートルの葛城山の西麓にある弘川寺は西行終焉の地として知られています。今から250年昔の江戸時代に今西行と言われた似雲法師がこの地で西行の墓を発見したと言うことで西行終焉の地となっています。確たる証拠があるわけではありません。西行は宮中の警護にあたる北面の武士に１９歳で任官されますが、その時すでに北面の武士に任官されていた平清盛と相見えることになります。後に最高権力者になる清盛と歌の世界では時代を代表する歌人になる西行にどんな交流があったのか、とても興味のあるところです。文武両道に秀で、宮廷女房にも人気があった西行が23歳の若さで出家した経緯など、当時にも話題になり、そのまま今に至るまで人の関心を惹きつけている不思議な歌人です。