Tsurayuki

Ki no Tsurayuki (紀貫之; c. 872–c. 945) was a Japanese waka poet, nobleman, and court official of the Heian period. He is best known as the chief compiler of the Kokin Wakashū, the first imperial anthology of waka poetry, completed around 905 during the reign of Emperor Daigo. Tsurayuki also wrote the Kana preface to the Kokin Wakashū, in which he argues for the use of the kana syllabary to render the Japanese language in poetry and for aligning poetic form with native aesthetics rather than Chinese models.

He is credited with authoring Tosa Nikki (Tosa Diary; 土佐日記), a travelogue written in kana that recounts a journey to the Tosa Province. The work is regarded as one of the earliest examples of prose written in kana and an important early text in the diary genre and in autobiographical literature.

In addition to his literary output, Tsurayuki held court positions and provincial duties, helping to shape the administration of poetry and its public reception at the Heian court. His writings contributed to the standardization of waka poetics and the early development of a distinctly Japanese literary language, influencing later poets and critics in the Heian period and beyond.