Tachibana no Hirofusa (橘広房)

TACHIBANA no Hirofusa (date of birth unknown - 1111) was a government official and kajin (waka poet) in the late Heian period. He was a son of TACHIBANA no Mochitsuna, Mutsu no kuni no kami (the governor of Mutsu Province). He was Shogoinoge (Senior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade), Shinano no kuni no kami (Governor of Shinano Province), Monjo tokugosho (Distinguished Scholars of Letters) and Tachibanashi choja (chieftain of the Tachibana family). His children included TACHIBANA no Mochinaga, TACHIBANA no Hironaka and TACHIBANA no Mochizane. He had another name, OE no Hirofusa.

He became a choja, succeeding his father, Mochitsuna who was Tachibanashi choja (chieftain of the Tachibana family). He was initially called Oe shi because he was an adopted child of OE no Masafusa and assumed to be family, but he changed back to his original surname in 1111 ("Sonpi Bunmyaku," a text compiled in the fourteenth century that records the lineages of the aristocracy). After being appointed to Shinano no kami (Governor of Shinano Province) in 1108, he dueled with MINAMOTO no Akikuni, Shimotsuke no kuni no kami (the governor of Shimotsuke Province) on the way to Mino Province and was killed there by Akikuni, along with retainers of MINAMOTO no Tameyoshi. He was a waka poet, and one of his poems was selected for "Shin chokusen wakashu" (New Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry).

Drops from mountain stream in this village smell in the bottom of chrysanthemum's branches.

[Original Japanese]