Semimaru

nihongo|"Semimaru" also known as "Semimaro"|蝉丸 was a Japanese poet and musician of the early Heian period. His name is recorded in the "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu", but there are no historical accounts of his pedigree. Some accounts say he was a son of Uda Tennō, Prince Atsumi, or that he was the fourth son of Daigo Tennō. There are also claims that he lived during the reign of Ninmyō Tennō.

He is said to have built his hermitage at Afusaka no Seki. Supposedly, on seeing the traffic on the road to the capital, he composed the following nihongo|"waka"|和歌

waka
これやこの行くも帰るも分かれつつ|知るも知らぬも逢坂の関
reading = koreyakono yuku mo kaheru mo wakaretsutsu shiru mo shiranu mo afusaka no seki
translation = Loosely: those coming and going to the capital ("afusaka" = modern Osaka); those who know each other, and those who don't; they meet, and then they part— such is nature of the nihongo|Afusaka Gate|逢坂の関|afusaka no seki.
source = "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu" 10

For this he became known as nihongo|"Seki no Akagami"|関の明神. For three years while Minamoto no Hiromasa travelled to the capital regularly, Semimaru is said to have tutored him on the secret nihongo|"biwa"|琵琶 techniques of nihongo|"ryūsen"|流泉 and nihongo|"takuboku"|啄木. Contradictory legends say that he was a blind master of the "biwa", and that he was a sighted common beggar. The above "waka" was famous enough to be included not only in the "Gosen Wakashū" but also in the Imperial anthologies "Shin Kokin Wakashū" and "Zoku Kokin Wakashū".

In "nō" there is a song called "Sekimaru" that depicts the life of a woman named nihongo|Sakagami|逆髪, who came to Afusaka no Seki and initially got into fights with Semimaru, but eventually both fell in love and later had a painful separation. It is unclear if the Semimaru of this tale is the same Semimaru as the poet of the "Ogura Hyakunin Isshu".

Relevant historical landmarks

*nihongo|Semimaru Shrine at the Gate|関蝉丸神社|Seki no Semimaru Jinja in nihongo|Ōsaka Mountain|逢坂山|ōsakazan, Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.
*A stone grave bearing the name of Semimaru in Miyazaki Village, Fukui Prefecture.

References

*This article is based on material from the .