Minamoto no Shunrai
Illustration — Minamoto no Toshiyori as pictured in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Minamoto Minamoto no Shunrai also Minamoto Toshiyori was an important and innovative Japanese poet, who compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū. He was the son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016–1097); holder of the second rank in court and of the position of Grand Counsellor).
Also recorded as Minamoto no Toshiyori
Minamoto no Shunrai

Print artist: Utagawa Kuniyoshi (歌川国芳) Print artist: Utagawa Hiroshige (歌川広重) Print artist: Utagawa Kunisada (歌川国貞 Toyokuni III) · Public domain
- Nationality
- Japan.
- Occupation
- writer, beamter and poet.
- Known for
- Sanboku Kikashū, Toshiyori Zuinō and Kin'yō Wakashū.
- Languages
- Japanese.
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Documentary summary
Illustration — Minamoto no Toshiyori as pictured in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Minamoto Minamoto no Shunrai also Minamoto Toshiyori was an important and innovative Japanese poet, who compiled the Kin'yō Wakashū. He was the son of Minamoto no Tsunenobu (1016–1097); holder of the second rank in court and of the position of Grand Counsellor).
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wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
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Authority files
wikidata · Q382633 · wikipedia · Minamoto no Shunrai
In this article
Biography
Biography
Shunrai was favored by Emperor Go-Sanjo and to a lesser degree Emperor Shirakawa; in no small part for political reasons. At this time, the Fujiwara family dominated the country, and its branch, the Rokujō family, similarly dominated the court poetry scene; by favoring their rivals, the Emperors could thus strike back. Although Shunrai was passed over to compile the Goshūi Wakashū, Shunrai's angry polemical Nan Goshūi ("Errors in the Goshūishū") appears to have somehow convinced Shirakawa to have Shunrai compile the next imperial anthology, the Kin'yō Wakashū. This anthology, when completed, embroiled Shunrai in dispute, and his Kin'yo Wakashū was especially criticized with various uncomplimentary nicknames; Brower and Miner mention that one critic, Fujiwara no Akinaka (fl. 1100-1125) wrote a now-lost ten-part work called the Ryōgyokushū ("Collection of Genuine Jewels") which did nothing but mock and criticize the Kin'yō Wakashū. In 1113, Toshiyori wrote the poetic treatise known as "Toshiyori zuinō (俊頼髄脳)." Zuinō, which is also seen in the title of Fujiwara no Kintō's poetic treatise the "Shinsen zuinō," can be translated literally as myelencephalon, but this term was used to refer to books that contained essays on poetry and figuratively means that it knows the "mind" of poetry.
The recorded working language is Japanese. Works named in the authority record are Sanboku Kikashū, Toshiyori Zuinō and Kin'yō Wakashū.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1055
Minamoto no Shunrai born at Kyushu.
1129
Minamoto no Shunrai died.
Citations
References
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
38,342 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Minamoto no SaneakiraAuthor
- Minamoto no SanetomoAuthor
- Minamoto no ShigeyukiAuthor
- Minamoto no ShitagōAuthor
- Minamoto no TōruAuthor
- Minamoto no TsunenobuAuthor
- Minamoto no YorimasaAuthor
- Minao ShibataAuthor
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