ABSTRACT
Towards the end of the thirteenth century a Shingon priest and court poet named Fujiwara Tameaki (1230s–90s) had the bright idea of incorporating the esoteric Buddhist ordination and transmission system of initiation (Shingon kanj ō) into the pedagogy of waka poetry, thereby creating a “waka kanj ō.” The details are somewhat vague (the initiations were, after all, secret), but scholars believe that at these waka kanj ō a “waka mandala” was displayed along with portraits of Sumiyoshi Daimyōjin (the patron deity of waka poetry) and the poets Kakinomoto Hitomaro and Ariwara no Narihira (considered the founders of the Way of Poetry). Incense was burnt, elaborate gifts of money and clothing were presented, and after appropriate poetic mantras were recited, commentaries containing esoteric poetic “secrets” were transmitted to the initiate along with genealogical documents purportedly authenticating an unbroken line of transmission.
