Fujiwara no Umakai

Fujiwara no Umakai, born around 694, was the third son of the influential court official Fuhito. Appointed deputy envoy to Tang China in 716, he travelled there the following year and returned in 718. His later work ranged from governing Hitachi, in eastern Japan, to heading the ministry responsible for official appointments and education. That ministry's name gave the Ceremonial House descended from him its later designation. [S01, S02]

In 724, Umakai commanded an expedition against Emishi communities, the court's designation for peoples of the northeast beyond or resisting its authority. From 726, he directed construction of the later Naniwa palace, in present-day Osaka. He became a councillor in 731 and took responsibility for western defence in 732. These were different forms of state service: military force at the frontier, a new seat for government, and preparations to protect the approaches from the continent. [S01, S02, S03]

Umakai died in the smallpox epidemic of 737, which also killed his three brothers. Japanese and Chinese verse attributed to him survives in the Man'yōshū and Kaifūsō anthologies. His sons included Hirotsugu and Momokawa, whose contrasting political careers unfolded after his death. Their later choices belonged to their own circumstances; Umakai's record already combines diplomacy, administration, construction and literary work. [S01, S02]