Ariwara no Motokata

• Name — Ariwara no Motokata • Native Name — 在原元方 • Language — Japanese • Period — early Heian • Genre — waka • Relatives — Emperor Heizei (great-great grandfather), Fujii no Fujiko (great-great grandmother), Emperor Kanmu (great-great grandfather), Fujiwara no Minamiko (great-great grandmother), Prince Abo (great grandfather), Princess Ito (great grandmother), Ariwara no Narihira (paternal grandfather), Ariwara no Muneyana (father) Ariwara no Motokata was a Japanese waka poet of the early Heian period. He was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and thirty-three of his poems were included in poetry collections commissioned by the court.

His birth and death dates are unknown, and the details of his life are also uncertain, but he was the son of Ariwara no Muneyana (died 898), the first son of Ariwara no Narihira (825—880). Who his mother was is also unknown. According to the Kokin Wakashū Mokuroku, he was adopted by his brother-in-law Fujiwara no Kunitsune. As a courtier, he held the Senior Fifth Rank, although the 14th century Chokusen Sakusha Burui attributes to him the Sixth Rank.

He was listed as one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses. Thirty-three of his poems were included in court anthologies: fourteen the Kokin Wakashū, eight in the Gosen Wakashū, two in the Shūi Wakashū, and nine more in later anthologies from the Shin Kokin Wakashū on. The following poem was included as the very first entry in the Kokin Wakashū, indicating the high regard in which the compilers likely held his poetry. Between one and three of his poems survive in the records of each of several uta-awase gatherings: the Ninna Ninomiya Uta-awase, the Kanpyō no Oontoki Kisai no Miya no Uta-awase, the Teiji-in no Uta-awase and the Taira no Sadafun ga Ie no Uta-Awase. Some of these overlap with the Motokata poems preserved in court anthologies. In the middle ages there was apparently a private collection of his poems, the Motokata-kashū, but only a four-leaf fragment is known to exist today.

His poems are characterized by an intellectual style. They make frequent use of simile. His poems clearly display the features of the so-called "Kokinshū style".