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Kamo no Chōmei

Type Figure Region Kyoto Time 1155–1216 Also known as Kiku Tayū

Kamo no Chōmei (1155–1216) was a waka poet and recluse-writer of the late Heian to early Kamakura period, author of the Hōjōki (1212), a classic of J…

Timeline

  1. 1155–1180Kyoto · KyotoBorn in Kyoto into a priestly family of the Kamo (Shimogamo) Shrine, he studied waka, biwa, and koto from childhood. After his father's death he failed to smoothly inherit the shrine post and his official career was blocked, but his artistic talents had already drawn the attention of the court's poetic circles.
  2. c. 1180–1204Kyoto · KyotoHis poetic talent won the favor of Emperor Go-Toba; he participated in waka activities and personally witnessed the fires, capital relocations, famines, and earthquakes of the Chōshū–Yōwa years. After his advancement in shrine office was blocked, he took tonsure around 1204, abandoning court life.
  3. 1204–1212Hino · KyotoAfter tonsure he first lived four or five years at Ōhara at the foot of Mount Hiei, feeling he had not found peace of mind, then built a one-jō square hut on Hino Mountain southeast of Kyoto. During his hermit's life he reflected on Kyoto's calamities and his own reclusion, preparing for the Hōjōki.
  4. 1212–1216Hino · KyotoIn Kenryaku 2 (1212) he wrote the Hōjōki, contrasting Kyoto's calamities with the simple life of his hut to expound impermanence. In the same period he also wrote the Mumeishō and Hasshinshū. He died in 1216, traditionally recorded as dying at his retreat near Kyoto.

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