Munenaga

Who is Munenaga?

Prince Munenaga, an imperial prince and a poet of the Nijō poetic school of Nanboku-chō period, mostly known for his compilation of the Shin'yō Wakashū.

Prince Munenaga led a turbulent life, which quite likely served as an impetus for his poetic sensibility. In 1326 he took tonsure as a Tendai priest on Mount Hiei and swiftly advanced in his studies of the Buddhist doctrine.

In 1330 Prince Munenaga became the head priest of Tendai school, but was soon after banished to Sanuki in Shikoku for his participation in the Genkō War, where he had fought for his father's cause of imperial restoration. After three years of exile he marched his troops into Kyoto. Subsequently, when the imperial army lost to Ashikaga Takauji in 1336, Prince Munenaga took refuge on Mount Hiei with his father, Emperor Godaigo.

In 1338, when one of his relatives suggested that Prince Munenaga abandon resistance and return to Kyoto, the prince replied with this poem:

Thus in an elegant poetic form Prince Munenaga replied that he would not abandon his father and stayed in the mountains of Yoshino to continue the fight despite all the hardships.