Fujiwara no Yasumasa (藤原保昌)

FUJIWARA no Yasumasa (958-1036) was a courtier during the middle of the Heian period. He was the child of Uma no gon no kami (Provisional Captain of the Right Division of Bureau of Horses) FUJIWARA no Munetada of the FUJIWARA no Kosemaro line, the Southern House of the Fujiwara clan. His younger brother was the famous robber, FUJIWARA no Yasusuke. He is also called Hirai Yasumasa because he lived in Hirai, Settsu Province when he was the governor.

In 1013, he was appointed Sama no gon no kami (Provisional Captain of Samaryo, Left Division of Bureau of Horses) and Governor of Yamato Province and later was hogandai (an administrative official of the Retired-Emperor's Office) for Emperor Enyu, Governor of Tango, Settsu, Yamashiro, Hizen, Hyuga Provinces and climbed to Shoshiinoge (Senior Fourth Rank, Lower Grade). He also was the keishi (household superintendent) of FUJIWARA no Michinaga and FUJIWARA no Yorimichi father and son. He was good at military skills and was one of the 'Michinaga Shitenno' together with MINAMOTO no Yorinobu, TAIRA no Korehira and TAIRA no Muneyori. With the recommendation of Michinaga, he married the lady poet Izumi Shikibu. He himself was a poet.

Story in Konjaku Monogatari (Shu) (The Tale of Times Now Past)

There was a person who was walking along a road and playing the flute on a cloudy moonlit night in October. A captain of a robber group called Hakamadare wanted to rob him of his costume and followed him, but was too scared to actually rob him. This person turned out to be Yasumasa and he took Hakamadare to his house and gave him some clothes, and then Hakamadare hurriedly ran away.

A similar story is in the "Uji Shui Monogatari" (a collection of the Tales from Uji). In later years, Hakamadare was thought to be the same as Yasumasa's younger brother FUJIWARA no Yasusuke and was called 'Hakamadare Yasusuke,' but the story in Konjaku monogatari is logically difficult to consider as a story between brothers and therefore Hakamadare and FUJIWARA no Yasusuke are thought to be different people.

[Original Japanese]