Fujiwara no Tadamichi

Fujiwara no Tadamichi (1097–1164) served the Heian emperors as regent for a child sovereign and as kampaku, chief adviser to an adult. The eldest son of the minister Tadazane, he took over the latter office and the leadership of the Fujiwara family in 1121. These positions combined work in imperial government with authority inside a powerful aristocratic house; they could also be separated. [S01]

His father later favoured Tadamichi’s younger half-brother Yorinaga. In 1150 Tadazane transferred the family leadership to Yorinaga, who the following year also gained the right to review documents before they reached the emperor. Tadamichi remained kampaku, so the brothers competed from different positions within the same court. In the Hōgen conflict of 1156, Tadamichi supported Emperor Go-Shirakawa while Yorinaga joined retired Emperor Sutoku. Tadamichi’s side won, and he recovered the family leadership. [S01, S02, S04]

His son Motazane subsequently succeeded him in office and family leadership. Tadamichi entered Buddhist orders in 1162 and died two years later. His standing also rested on accomplished writing: he prepared ceremonial texts and official appointment documents, and his calligraphic manner became known as the Hōshōji style. A surviving collection of letter drafts preserves that manner, although the museum leaves open whether the sheets are his own drafts, contemporary copies, or a mixture. [S01, S03]