Fujiwara no Naritoki (藤原済時)

FUJIWARA no Naritoki (941-May 30, 995) was a court noble during the Heian Period. He was the second son of Sadaijin (Minister of the Left), FUJIWARA no Morotada. He was ranked Shonii (Senior Second Rank), and was Dainagon (chief councilor of state), Sadaisho (major captain, the Left Division of the Inner Palace Guards), and after his death, he was also raised to Udaijin (Minister of the Right). Koichijo no taisho was his pseudonym.

Career

In 970,the next year of his father Morotada's death, he was appointed to Sangi (councilor), and since then he was promoted smoothly, taking charge of political affaires. He associated closely with Kanpaku (chief adviser of the Emperor) FUJIWARA no Michitaka over drinks, and faithfully supported Michitaka in the early stages of the era of Emperor Ichijo, together with FUJIWARA no Asateru. According to "Okagami" (Great Mirror), he was a self-conceited and a bad-tempered person in general. And the book presented several anecdotes as follows: although he had the fame to be a master of So (a long Japanese zither with thirteen strings), he was stingy about showing his accomplishments and was criticized by the public; to the visitors, he showed off the gifts he received, displaying them in his garden; he appointed his mentally disabled nephew, Imperial Prince Eihei, to entertain a feast and he made a fool of himself. On the other hand, the book also reported that he was well informed about Yusoku kojitsu (court and samurai rules of ceremony and etiquette), and when FUJIWARA no Sanesuke, who later became a master of ancient practices, was serving under Naritoki as Chugu daibu (Master of the Consort's Household) of Chugu (Empress) FUJIWARA no Junshi at that moment, Sanesuke highly described Moritoki as a 'well qualified person for the duty' (the article of April 12, 982 in "Shoyuki" - diary of FUJIWARA no Sanesuke), and frequently asked for Naritoki's instruction (the articles of April 27 and June 1, 993). In the 995 due to a smallpox epidemic, he as well as Michitaka and Asateru died in tandem. After his death, he was raised to Minister of the Right, since his daughter FUJIWARA no Seishi/Sukeko became the Empress of the Emperor Sanjo.

There existed a diary "Naritokiki" written by him, but it was dissipated and at present only a segment is conserved.

Imperial Crown Prince Atsuakira (Koichijo-in), Imperial Princess Toshi, and Imperial Prince Shoshinho, among others, were Seishi/Sukeko's birth children. His male line descendents later formed the Anekoji family, and served as Hida Kokushi (the governor of Hida Province) Tsukasa Family (Family in charge of the governor of Hida Province) until the Sengoku period (the period of warring states).

[Original Japanese]