Abe no Nakamaro

In 734, Abe tried to return to Japan, but the ship that was to take him back sank not long into the journey, forcing him to remain in China for several more years.

In 752, he tried again to return, with the mission to China led by Fujiwara no Kiyokawa, but the ship he was traveling in was wrecked and ran aground off the coast of Annan (modern day northern Vietnam).

Abe was a close friend of the Chinese poets Li Bai and Wang Wei, Zhao Hua, Bao Xin, and Chu Guangxi.

One of his poems was included in the anthology Hyakunin Isshu:[4] 天の原ふりさけ見れば春日なる     三笠の山に出し月かも ama no hara furisakemireba Kasuga naruMikasa-no-yama ni ideshi tsuki ka moWhen I look up into the vast sky tonight, is it the same moon that I saw rising from behind Mt.

[5](Kokin Wakashū 9:406)Abe's place in Japanese cultural history is confirmed in Hokusai's Hyakunin Isshu series of ukiyo-e woodblock prints.