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| | 2001 Waka - Yakamochi |
 | | The son of Ôtomo no Tabito, Yakamochi went with his father to Kyûshû and, no doubt, was exposed to the literary circle Tabito formed there. |
 | | This was due partially to the decline in the fortunes of the Ôtomo family, and partially to the fact that, in the latter part of his life, Yakamochi became increasingly involved in the intrigues surrounding the throne and failed to back the winning side. |
 | | Nevertheless, during his productive period of just over twenty years, Yakamochi showed himself to be a poet of great versatility, as at home with nagauta as he was with tanka: his poems mourning his concubine showed his human side, as did his many love poems to his wife, the Elder Maiden of Sakanoue. |
| www.shef.ac.uk /japan2001/yakamochi.shtml (300 words) |
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