Isonokami no Otomaro

Isonokami no Otomaro (石上 乙麻呂, ? – October 9, 750) was a Japanese noble and scholar of the Nara period. He was the son of sadaijin Isonokami no Maro. He reached the court rank of ju san-mi (従三位) and the position of chūnagon.

Life

In 724, Otomaro was promoted from shō roku-i no ge (正六位下) to ju go-i no ge (従五位下). In 732 he was promoted again to ju go-i no ge (従五位上) and governor of Tanba province. Under the successive administrations of the four sons of Fujiwara no Fuhito and Tachibana no Moroe, Otomaro rose quickly, to shō go-i no ge (正五位下) in 736, shō go-i no jō (正五位上) in 737, and in 738 to ju shi-i no ge (従四位下) and sadaiben in the Daijō-kan.

In 739 he was charged with an affair with Kume no Wakame, the wife of Fujiwara no Umakai, and exiled to Tosa Province.

He was soon pardoned, and in 743 rose again to ju shi-i no jō (従四位上). Passing through various ministerial positions, he joined the ranks of the kugyō in 748 with a promotion to ju san-mi (従三位) and sangi. In 749, he was made chūnagon. He was also appointed in 746 as an envoy to Tang China, but the mission was cancelled. The planned objectives of the mission are supposed to have been to check Silla, with which Japan's relations were strained, and to import gold.

In 750, Otomaro died. His final rank was ju san-mi (従三位), and he held the positions of chūnagon and chief administrator of the Ministry of the Center.

Genealogy

• Father: Isonokami no Maro
• Mother: Unknown
• Wife: Unknown
  • Son: Isonokami no Yakatsugu
  • Son: Isonokami no Okitsugu (石上息嗣)

References

• Gomi, Tomohide (1992). "石上乙麻呂" [Isonokami no Otomaro]. 万葉集の作家と作品 [Writers and Works of the Manyōshū] (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten (岩波書店). 
• Ichimura, Hiroshi (1965). "石上乙麻呂考" [On Isonokami no Otomaro]. Bungaku Ronsō (文学論藻) (in Japanese). 32. 
• Suzuki, Yasutami (1967). "『懐風藻』と石上乙麻呂伝の一考察" [A Theory on Isonokami no Otomaro and the "Kaifūsō"]. Research on the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀研究) (in Japanese) (137). 
• Tōno, Haruyuki (1977). "天平十八年の遣唐使派遣計画" [The Planned Envoy to Tang of Tempyō 18]. 正倉院文書と木簡の研究 [Research on the Shōsōin Documents and Mokkan] (in Japanese). 
• Watase, Masatada (1978). "石上乙麻呂土佐国に配さるる時の歌" [Isonokami no Otomaro's Poems from his Time in Tosa Province]. 万葉集を学ぶ [Studying the Manyōshū] (in Japanese). 4. Yuhikaku Publishing Co (有斐閣). 
• Yoshida, Kazuhiko (1990). "石上乙麻呂と久米若売の配流について" [The Exile of Isonokami no Otomaro and Kume no Wakame]. Research on the Shoku Nihongi (続日本紀研究) (271). 
• Kimoto, Yoshinobu (1995). "石上乙麻呂と橘諸兄政権" [Isonokami no Otomaro and the Administration of Tachibana Moroe]. 奈良朝政治と皇位継承 [Imperial Succession and the Politics of the Nara Court] (in Japanese). Takashina Shoten (高科書店). 
• Taira, Ayumi (1989). "石上乙麻呂配流事件について" [On Isonokami no Otomaro's Exile]. Politico-Economic History (政治経済史学) (in Japanese) (284). 
• Hōga, Toshio (1986). 古代氏族系譜集成 [Ancient Clan Genealogies Collection] (in Japanese). Ancient Clan Genealogies Society (古代氏族研究会).