Minamoto no Tōru

Minamoto no Tōru by Kikuchi Yōsai

Minamoto no Tōru, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Minamoto no Tōru (源 融, 822 – September 21, 895) was a Japanese poet and statesman. He was born the grandson of Emperor Saga and a member of the Saga Genji clan. He is sometimes mentioned as the model for Hikaru Genji in important Japanese literary classic The Tale of Genji.

Under his title Kawara no Sadaijin 河原左大臣, he is the author of poem 14 in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology.

The poem reads:

Like Michinoku prints,
Of the tangled leaves of ferns,
It is because of you,
That I have become confused;
But my love for you remains.

His tomb resides at the Seiryō-ji, a Buddhist temple situated on what was once Saga Moor in Kyoto.