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Fujiwara no Teika ... (also known as Sadaie; 1162-1241) was a courtier and poet of Japan's early medieval period, an era in which political and economic structures were shifting from a court-centered model to one in which power became concentrated in the hands of a military government. This transition, which occurred over a span of almost two centuries, has been typically portrayed as an unmitigated disaster to the aristocratic class as a whole, but Teika was one of a number of courtiers with close ties to military elites who benefited during this time. Within the context of Japanese literary history, Teika was a leading figure in a coterie of poets who revolutionized the use of imagery, allusion, and diction in the 31 -syllable waka form, an effort that culminated in the compilation of the eighth imperial anthology of waka poetry, Shin kokin wakashü (or Shin Kokinshü; New Anthology of Ancient and Modern Poetry, ca. 1205).
For these two reasons - Teika' s position at the nexus of the courtier and warrior classes at a pivotal moment, and his indispensable role in the creation, critique, and compilation of some of Japan's most highly regarded verse - his diary has great importance for scholars of Japanese political, social, and cultural history. Clear evidence for the diary's value is furnished by even a cursory glance through the corresponding volumes of the definitive chronology of premodern Japanese history, Dai Nihon shiryö (Historical Documents of Greater Japan, 1901-, 380+ vols.). The Meigetsuki is frequently cited as a source for significant events, and in many instances it is the only extant source.1
The diary is commonly known as Meigetsuki ... (Record of the Brilliant Moon); the Reizei family, Teika' s most prominent surviving heirs, pronounce it "Meigekki," according to tradition. The Nijö branch of the Fujiwara line referred to the diary as Shököki ... .2 No evidence exists that Teika used any of these names; he referred to it simply as "my foolish diary" (guki ...), as conventional modesty dictated. Originally, the diary spanned a period from the Jishö era (1177-80) to the Ninji era (1240-42), ending some time before Teika' s death on Ninji 2.8.20 (1241). 3 The earliest extant entry is from Jishö...