Keichū
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Keichū (契沖?), 1640 – 3 April 1701) was a priest of the Shingon sect and a scholar of Kokugaku in the mid Edo period.
Keichū’s grandfather was a personal retainer of Kato Kiyomasa but his father was a ronin from the Amagasaki fief.
When he was young, Keichū studied at Kaijō in Myōhōji, Imasato, Osaka. He attained the post of Ajari (or Azari) at Mount Kōya.
Following this he became chief priest at Mandara-in in Ikutama, Osaka, during which time he was friendly with Shimokobe Nagaru. However, he disliked the worldly duties of his work and, after wandering around the Kinki region for a while, made his way back to Mount Koya. He later read widely in Japanese classics under the patronage of Fuseya Shigeta, a patron of the arts in Izumi Province. After serving as chief priest at Myohoji, Keichū spent his last years at Enju’an in Kōzu in the Province of Settsu.
His prolific works set a new standard in the study of the classics, and included the Man’yōdai Shōshū (commissioned by Tokugawa Mitsukuni), the Kōganshō, the Kokin Yozaishō, the Seigodan, the Genchū Shūi, the Hyakunin Isshu Kaikanshō, and the Waji Shōranshō.
