Fujiwara no Nagaie

Fujiwara no Nagaie was born on the 20th day of the eighth month of Kankō 2 (26 September 1005 in the Julian calendar),[1][lower-alpha 1] to Fujiwara no Michinaga[1] and Minamoto no Meishi[1] His adoptive mother was Michinaga's principal wife (正室) Minamoto no Rinshi.[1] He was the sixth[3] and youngest[2] of Michinaga's sons. He was fawned over by his father, adoptive mother, eldest sister Shōshi and eldest brother Yorimichi.[2]

Nagaie lived for a long period in the Mikohidari manor on Sanjō Avenue, from which he acquired the nicknames Sanjō (三条)[2] and Mikohidari (御子左).[2]

At the height of his career, immediately before his death, he held the position of Provisional Senior Counselor[1] and the Senior Second Rank.[1] On the 25th day of the tenth month of Kōhei 7 (5 December 1064) he took the tonsure as a result of illness.[1] He died shortly thereafter, on the ninth day of the eleventh month of Kōhei 7 (19 December 1064).[1][lower-alpha 2] He was sixty years old, by Japanese reckoning.[1]

Nagaie was a patron of the poetic arts, which were seen as a key element in the education of the ruling class.[2] He hosted poetic gatherings, including uta-awase contests and meetings for the composition of both waka and kanshi, at his residence.[2] He participated in a number of uta-awase at the palace,[2] notably acting as the poetic arbiter (歌撰者) of the right team (右方) at the Kōgōgū Shunjū Uta-awase (皇后宮春秋歌合) in Tengi 4 (1056).[2]

43[lower-alpha 3] of his waka were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.[2] He supposedly produced a kashū (personal collection),[2] but this does not survive.