Imperial Prince Atsumi (敦実親王)

Imperial Prince Atsumi (893 - April 14, 967) was the 8th prince of the Emperor Uda. His mother was the daughter of FUJIWARA no Takafuji, FUJIWARA no Inshi (Taneko). He was a younger brother-uterine. He married the daughter of FUJIWARA no Tokihira and his sons, MINAMOTO no Masanobu, MINAMOTO no Shigenobu and MINAMOTO no Hironobu were given surname of MINAMOTO Asomi and descended to the status of the subject, and became the founder of Uda-Genji (Minamoto-clan). Among his other sons are monks Kancho and Gakei. His appellative is Rokujonomiya.

At the age of 15, he was given the title of Imperial Prince, designated as the governor of Kozuke Province, appointed to the positions of Nakatsukasa kyo (Minister of the Ministry of Central Affairs) and Shikibu kyo (Minister of the Ministry of Ceremonial), and awarded the rank of Ippon (First Order for an Imperial Princes). He became a monk in 950 and was given a Buddhist name Kakushin, and resided at Ninna-ji Temple. He was familiar with many arts and was respected by the people in and out of the court as he lived longer among the princes of Emperor Uda whose lives were rather short.

He played an important role in the history of Japanese music and choreographed the dances for bugaku music (traditional Japanese court music accompanied by dancing) composed by FUJIWARA no Tadafus such as Kocho (butterfly) and Engiraku (a dance regarded as a sign of celebration in the representative program of Uhobugaku Hiramai Dance, which was composed in Japan between 901 and 922).

[Original Japanese]