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

The courtier Kujo Yoshitsune (1169-1206) wrote this letter to his father Kanezane on the twenty-second day of the eleventh month of 1203 (Kennin 3). Yoshitsune inquires about the manner of writing a poem for the banquet in honor of the courtier and poet Fujiwara Shunzei's (1114-1204) ninetieth birthday. The last five lines is Kanezane's response, which explains that in the case of one such as Shunzei, who has already attained priesthood, it would be appropriate to address him by his title and priest name, "Nyudo Sanbon Shaku'a," in the preface to the poem. Yoshitsune's slightly oblong and powerful calligraphic style later came to be called the Kyogoku style and was popular in the Kamakura period (1185-1333).