Abe no Nakamaro



Abe no Nakamaro (阿倍仲麻呂) was a Japanese scholar, administrator, and waka poet in the Nara period. Little is documented about his life except that he went to China in 717 and remained there until his death. In China he passed the civil-service examination and rose to the position of Governor-General, a post he held for six years until 767. Of his literary work he is famous for a poem filled with intense longing for his home in Nara.

天原ふりさけ見れば春日なるみかさの山に出し月かも.

ama-no-hara furisake mireba kasuga naru mikasa no yama ni ideshi tsuki kamo.

loosely: On the horizon&mdash;isn't that the same moon that rises in spring over the Hill of Mikasa?

&mdash; Kokin Wakashū 9:406

Other notable poets of this period to write such homesick poems include Yamanoue Okura, though he, unlike Nakamaro, did return to Japan.

Abe no Nakamaro Abe no Nakamaro Abe no Nakamaro 阿倍仲麻呂 阿倍仲麻呂