Which Japanese poet wrote the kana preface to the Kokin Wakashu?

Ki no Tsurayuki wrote the kana preface to the *Kokin Wakashū*, the landmark Japanese-language introduction to the imperial anthology of waka poetry.

The preface is also called the Japanese preface, or *kana-jo*, because it was written in kana rather than in the Classical Chinese style used for the anthology’s other preface. Ki no Yoshimochi wrote that Chinese preface, known as the *mana-jo*. The contrast reflects the period’s literary division between Japanese waka culture and the prestige of Chinese writing.

Tsurayuki was the anthology’s principal compiler and one of four court poets appointed under Emperor Daigo around 905. In the kana preface he discusses the origins and purposes of waka, classifies poetic styles, praises exemplary poets, and comments on the strengths and weaknesses of earlier writers.

The work is important beyond this single anthology: it is often regarded as one of the earliest major works of Japanese literary criticism. Tsurayuki is also associated with the *Tosa Nikki*, a kana diary traditionally attributed to him and written from a woman’s fictional perspective.