was a middle Heian

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 waka

Waka (poetry)

Waka or Yamato uta is a genre of classical Japanese verse and one of the major genres of Japanese literature...

and Japanese nobleman. He is designated as a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals

Thirty-six Poetry Immortals

The Thirty-six Poetry Immortals are a group of Japanese poets of the Nara, Asuka and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. There are five female poets among them...

 and one of his poems is included in the famous anthology Hyakunin Isshu

Hyakunin Isshu

is a traditional anthology style of compiling Japanese waka poetry where each contributor writes one poem for the anthology. Literally, it translates to "one hundred people, one poem [each]"...

. He is also known as 本院中納言 Hon'in Chūnagon and 琵琶中納言Biwa Chūnagon.

Many of Atsutada's poems written in correspondence with court women remain, and some are included in official poetry anthologies such as Gosen Wakashū.

External links

• E-text of his poems in Japanese