Koshiro Fujita · Mito

Original

かねてより
おもひそめにし
真心を
けふ大君に
つげてうれしき

Person

Son of Fujita Toko and a central youth leader of the Mito Tengu Party uprising, executed at Tsuruga. A young man in whom the fervor of Mito learning took bodily form. He led the Tsukuba uprising believing in loyalist justice, only to be driven into the snow of Tsuruga by clan conflict and shogunate pursuit.

Translation

The true heart I had long held within me, today I can finally offer to my sovereign, and I am glad.

Poetic Shape

A Japanese death poem is less a final explanation than a last shape given to feeling. Its brevity matters: a life is not narrated, but compressed into a few lines that leave room for silence.

Reading

The fervor of young loyalism becomes the final word itself. The true heart here is not private feeling, but loyalty that should reach the sovereign. Yet the brightness of being glad becomes painful beside the reality of execution at Tsuruga. The purer the ideal, the colder the world around it feels.

Background

Koshiro Fujita, the fourth son of Fujita Toko, led the Tengu Party uprising at Mount Tsukuba. The march that sought to appeal loyalist aims toward Kyoto was pursued, surrendered at Tsuruga, and ended in execution. The poem preserves the youthfulness of seeing even defeat as the offering of loyalty.

Source / Transmission

Wording and readings may differ by transmission; this page treats the text as one circulated form.

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Relations

People, Poems, and Places

Center Koshiro Fujita Mito

PeopleKounsai TakedaMito PeopleNariaki TokugawaMito PeopleHyobu YamakuniMito PlacesTsuruga / Raikoji AreaTsuruga, Fukui

Related Places

Places Connected to This Poem

Tsuruga, Fukui · Mito / Tengu Party

Tsuruga / Raikoji Area

Tsuruga, where the Tengu Party surrendered and many were executed. Fujita's youthful sincerity ends amid sea wind and northern snow.

Koshiro Fujita

AddressMatsushima-cho area, Tsuruga, Fukui

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Nearby

Takeda Kounsai GravesThe graves directly connected with the end of the Tengu Party.
Raikoji TempleA temple at the center of the graves area.
Kehi no MatsubaraA place to feel the sea and northern wind of Tsuruga.