Time and Glory in the Ise monogatari Considerations on the Political Implications of the Songs of the ‘Old Man’

Abstract

Centred as they are on historical figures and public events, the six chapters (76, 77, 79, 81, 83, 97) that refer to Narihira as an “old man” (okina) have long been the object of scholarly debate as important keys to the understanding of the Ise monogatari. This article explores their political overtones, showing how, through the symbolic use of seasonal motifs, the old man’s poems obliquely signal – and covertly denounce as an illegitimate assumption of power – specific stages of Fujiwara no Yoshifusa’s political ascent, vis-à-vis the consequent decline of other clans (the Ariwaras) and royal personages (Prince Koretaka).