Asukai family

The Asukai family were a branch of the Fujiwara clan,[1] and were known especially for their skill at composing waka poetry and playing kemari (Japanese football).[1] Their founder was Fujiwara no Masatsune, a grandson of the great poet and kemari player Nanba Yorisuke.[1] The family's name was derived from a well, the Asuka Well (飛鳥井 asuka-i) located near Masatsune's residence.[1]

Masatsune was an early ally of the Kamakura shogunate,[1] but also earned the favour of Emperor Go-Toba.[1] He was selected as one of the compilers of the Shin-Kokin Wakashū,[1] and also had a distinguished political career,[1] thus laying the foundations for the future prosperity of his house.[1]

Masatsune, his son Norisada (飛鳥井教定), grandson Masaari (飛鳥井雅有), great-grandson Masaaki (飛鳥井雅顕), great-great-grandson Masataka (飛鳥井雅孝) continued to maintain a close relationship with the shogunate,[1] and Masataka's descendants Masaie (飛鳥井雅家) and Masayori (飛鳥井雅縁) assisted the Ashikaga shōguns.[1] With the downfall of the Nijō family, the Asukai and Reizei families became the two great houses of waka poetry.[1]

Masayori's son Masayo (飛鳥井雅世) was entrusted by the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshinori to compile the Shinshoku Kokin Wakashū, an imperial anthology.[1] Masayo's sons Masachika (飛鳥井雅親) and Masayasu (飛鳥井雅康) both became the confidants of Ashikaga Yoshimasa and Yoshihisa,[1] and were influential figures in the court-samurai poetic world that developed at that time.[1] The prominence they achieved continued until well into the Edo period.[1]

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Their poetic tastes and style was similar to that of the Nijō poetic school,[1] and their numerous poems and writings on poetic theory (karon) had a strong influence on the poets of later generations.[1]

Masachika founded the so-called Asukai School (飛鳥井流 Asukai-ryū) or Eiga School (栄雅流 Eiga-ryū) of Japanese calligraphy.[1]