Hitomaro

Hitomaro Kakinomoto (fl. 689-700) is best known as one of the three greatest premodern poets of Japan, says Commons (East Asian studies, U. of Alberta, Canada), but people living near one of the shrines devoted to him also know him as a benevolent deity who can be called on for safety in childbirth and travel and for academic endeavors. It is this second aspect, his afterlife as it were, that she considers here, emphasizing the first thousand years leading to his imperially-sponsored recognition as a deity in 1723. She measures his progress from the birth of a legend through a sage of poetry, worshiping him from text to image, poetic deities in the secret commentaries, and poetic icon and popular deity. The study seems to have been her Ph.D. dissertation in premodern Japanese literature for Columbia University in 2003. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Anne Commons received her Ph.D. in premodern Japanese literature from Columbia University in 2003 and is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of East Asian Studies, University of Alberta. Her research interests include premodern Japanese poetry and poetic criticism.