National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) was a son of Fujiwara no Toshinari, a renowned poet. Teika participated in the selection of poems for Shin Kokin Wakashu (New Collection of Ancient and Modern Poems) as one of selectors and played a leading role as the head of the court poet circles surrounding Emperor Gotoba. As a court official, he had long been unfortunate as he had been neglected for 14 years since he assumed the post of Sakoneno-gon-shojo in 1189 at the age of 28. He then decided to make an appeal for a promotion, and this is the letter of request that he wrote for promotion to the rank of Chujo. After the first three lines under the title Request for Transfer, he emphasized that he had worked hard for 20 years (就中、寿永2年秋、忝列仙籍以来、奉公労20年). In his diary, Meigetsuki (July 22, 1202), he also wrote, lamenting over his hard fate, that he had not received any response from the court regarding his request despite the fact that the appointment ceremony was approaching. However, his request was finally accepted and he was promoted to Sakoneno-gon-shojo in October 1202. His long-cherished ambition was realized. He was 41 years old at the time. Later, he was further promoted to Chunagon Sho-Nii and passed away in 1241 at the age of 80. His bold and idiosyncratic writing style is full of spirit, suggesting his extraordinary character. Later in the history, his writing style was admired by poets and masters of tea ceremony and some even imitated his style, such as Kobori Enshu and Matsudaira Fumai. Under the name of Teika Style, his writing style has since become popular for a long period of time.