Ōmi no Mifune (淡海三船, 722—785) was a Japanese scholar and writer of kanshi (poetry in Classical Chinese) and kanbun (prose in Classical Chinese), who lived in the Nara period of Japanese history.

[1][2][3][4] His father was Prince Ikebe (池辺王, Ikebe no Ōkimi), who was a son of Prince Kadono (葛野王, Kadono no Ōkimi), a son of Emperor Kōbun.

[1][2] He was originally an imperial prince, known as Prince Mifune (御船王 or 三船王, Mifune no Ōkimi),[1] but in the first month of 751 was made a commoner and given the surname Ōmi and the title Mahito.

[1][2] He served as Head of the University (大学頭, daigaku no kami), Professor of Letters (文章博士, monjō hakase) and Steward of the Prosecution Bureau (刑部大輔, gyōbu no taifu).

[2] Based on his research into Buddhist scriptures, in 779 he declared the Shakuma Kaen Ron (釈摩訶衍論), a commentary on the Awakening of Faith in the Mahāyāna attributed to Nāgārjuna (龍樹, Ryūju), to be a forgery.