Aoniyoshi Nara no ōji wa yukiyokedo kono yamamichi wa yukiashikarikeri

あをによし奈良の大道は行きよけど
この山道は行き悪しかりけり

Roma-ji: Aoniyoshi Nara no ōji wa yukiyokedo kono yamamichi wa yukiashikarikeri
English Translation: The great avenues
of Nara, rich in green earth,
are easy to walk,
but this mountain road
how hard it is to go
Meaning: The broad avenues of Nara are easy to walk, but how hard to travel is this mountain road.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3728

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
He sings that the avenues of the capital are easy to walk, but this mountain road is hard to travel. Through the contrast between the orderly avenues of the capital and the steep mountain path, it expresses the pain of one leaving the capital for his place of exile. In the next poem he reveals that the road is hard because thoughts of his wife slow his steps, and the two poems form a pair.
The author, Nakatomi no Yakamori, was a son of Nakatomi no Azumahito, from the Nakatomi clan in charge of the rites of the gods. He was exiled to Echizen Province for an offense, but was later pardoned and returned to the capital.
A left note reads "the above four poems were composed by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori on setting out on the road"; the four poems from 3727 to 3730 of this book were made by Yakamori on the way to his place of exile. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "aoniyoshi": a pillow word for "Nara."
Second line, "Nara no ōji wa": "ōji" is a great avenue, the orderly avenues of the Heijō capital.
Third line, "yukiyokedo": "yoke" is regarded as an old realis form of "yoshi"; with the adversative "do" it turns: though easy to walk.
Fourth line, "kono yamamichi wa": the steep mountain road on the way to Echizen.
Fifth line, "yukiashikarikeri": hard to travel; "keri" voices an exclamation of present realization. It pairs with "yukiyokedo" in the third line.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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