Minamoto no Shitagō
Japanese poet

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.
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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.
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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.