Ariwara no Motokata

was a Japanese waka poet of the early Heian period.

He was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and thirty-three of his poems were included in poetry collections commissioned by the court.

Biography His birth and death dates are unknown, and the details of his life are also uncertain, but he was the son of Ariwara no Muneyana (died 898), the first son of Ariwara no Narihira (825—880). During the old year spring has come. The day that is left: should we call it last year or should we call it this year?

Between one and three of his poems survive in the records of each of several uta-awase gatherings: the , the , the and the . Some of these overlap with the Motokata poems preserved in court anthologies.

In the middle ages there was apparently a private collection of his poems, the , but only a four-leaf fragment is known to exist today.

Characteristic style His poems are characterized by an intellectual style. They make frequent use of .

His poems clearly display the features of the so-called "Kokinshū style".