also known as was an early Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 scholar and poet.

Life

Takamura is a descendant of Ono no Imoko

Ono no Imoko

was a Japanese politician and diplomat in the late 6th and early 7th century, during the Asuka period.Ono was appointed by Empress Suiko as an official envoy to the Sui court in 607 , and he delivered the famous letter from Japan's Prince Shōtoku which began "The Son of Heaven where the sun rises...

 who served as Kenzuishi, and his father was Ono no Minemori. He is the grandfather of Ono no Michikaze

Ono no Michikaze

was a prominent Shodōka who lived in the Heian period . One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡 , along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari...

, one of the . In 834 he was appointed to Kintōshi, but in 838 after a quarrel with the envoy, Fujiwara no Tsunetsugu, he gave up his professional duties pretending to be ill, and attracted the ire of retired Emperor Saga

Emperor Saga

was the 52nd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. Saga's reign spanned the years from 809 through 823.-Traditional narrative:...

, who sent him to Oki Province

Oki Province

was an old province of Japan which is now Shimane Prefecture. It was sometimes called . Oki province consisted of the Oki Islands in the Sea of Japan, located off the coast of the provinces of Izumo and Hōki....

. Within two years he regained the graces of the court and returned to the capital where he was promoted to Sangi.

Takamura is the subject of a number of odd stories and legends. One of the most singular of these legends is the claim that every night he would climb down a well to hell

Hell

In many religious traditions, a hell is a place of suffering and punishment in the afterlife. Religions with a linear divine history often depict hells as endless. Religions with a cyclic history often depict a hell as an intermediary period between incarnations...

 and help in his . In Sataku, Kyoto

Kyoto

is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...

, there is a grave said to belong to Takamura. Near that grave is a grave marked Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012...

, with a legend that it was placed there by the devil himself as punishment for for which Murasaki Shikibu descended to hell.

In Ujishūi Monogatari there is the following story about Takamura to illustrate his wit. One day in the palace of Saga Tennō, someone erected a scroll with the writing "無善悪". No one in the palace was able to decipher its meaning. The emperor then ordered Takamura to read it, and he responded "," reading the character for as "Saga" to indicate Saga Tennō. The emperor was incensed at his audacity and proclaimed that because only Takamura was able to read the scroll, he must have been the one who put it up in the first place. Takamura however pleaded his innocence, saying that he was simply deciphering the meaning of the scroll. The emperor said, "Oh, so you can decipher any writing, can you?" and asked Takamura to read a row of twelve characters for : "子子子子子子子子子子子子". Takamura immediately responded: , using the variant readings ne, ko and shi/ji for the character; this translates to "the young of , , and the young of , ." The emperor was amused by Takamura's wit and removed the accusation.

Takamura is the main character in the tale Takamura Monogatari

Takamura Monogatari

is a late Heian period Japanese short story. The author is unknown. The text is also known as , , and .-Contents:The text is composed of two short stories. The protagonist is based Ono no Takamura....

.

Descendants

While people like Ono no Michikaze

Ono no Michikaze

was a prominent Shodōka who lived in the Heian period . One of the so-called Sanseki 三跡 , along with Fujiwara no Sukemasa and Fujiwara no Yukinari...

 and Ono no Komachi

Ono no Komachi

was a famous Japanese waka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the Six best Waka poets of the early Heian period. She was noted as a rare beauty; Komachi is a symbol of a beautiful woman in Japan. She also figures among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals....

 are Takamura's direct descendants, he also had several spiritual descendants among the Samurai

Samurai

is the term for the military nobility of pre-industrial Japan. According to translator William Scott Wilson: "In Chinese, the character 侍 was originally a verb meaning to wait upon or accompany a person in the upper ranks of society, and this is also true of the original term in Japanese, saburau...

. In particular, several Samurai names such as , , , can be traced to Takamura.

Representative poems

One of his poems is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Takamura contributes six poems to the Kokin Wakashū: #335, 407, 829, 845, 936, and 961.

Works related to Takamura

| author = Tatsumiya
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| author = Yūko Satsuma
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| author = Yū Itō
| year = 1997
| isbn = 4-8340-1571-8
}}