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Minamoto no Shitagō

Japanese poet

Correspondence, annotated notebooks and portrait silhouettes prepared for research
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionFeb 22, 2026
Entity authorityQ1559382 ↗
Source-derived summary

Minamoto no Shitagō (源 順; 911–983) was a mid Heian waka poet, scholar and nobleman. He was also a male-line descendant of Emperor Saga. He was the original compiler of the Wamyō Ruijushō, the first Japanese dictionary organized into semantic headings. He was designated as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals for his distinguished poetic accomplishments. In addition to the Wamyō Ruijushō, his remaining works include a poetry collection known as the Minamoto no Shitagōshū (源順集). Some scholars claim that he is the author of the Taketori Monogatari (Tale of the Bamboo Cutter). Ziro Uraki also posits him as a possible author of Utsuho Monogatari (Tale of the Hollow Tree) in the foreword to his English translation of that work.

As one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber he assisted in the compilation of the waka anthology Gosen Wakashū. He also compiled kun'yomi readings for texts from the revered Man'yōshū anthology.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Minamoto no Shitagō” is japanese poet. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Minamoto, Shitagō and Japanese, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful biographical orientation record, particularly for establishing names, roles and a first chronology. The current 153-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 0911. For this dossier, Minamoto, Shitagō and Japanese is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “japanese poet” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 22, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1559382. VIAF identifies the subject as 71440502. The Library of Congress control number is n81089521. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.

Critical limits

A concise life account rarely captures disputed attribution, private networks or the changing language used to describe a career. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Read biographical claims against dates, named institutions and the cited references. Distinguish a subject’s later reputation from evidence produced during their lifetime.

Best used for
  • Establishing names and roles
  • Building a first chronology
  • Locating cited institutions
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Personal papers, civil or court records, institutional files and the scholarship cited by the source.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Minamoto no Shitagō”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Minamoto no Shitagō primary sources, Minamoto no Shitagō archive and Minamoto research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Minamoto no Shitagō” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.