Fujiwara no Yoshimi

 was a Japanese noble of the early Heian period. He was the fifth son of the "sadaijin" Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu of the Fujiwara Hokke and the uncle of Emperor Montoku. He reached the court rank of and the position of "udaijin", and was posthumously granted the rank of . He was also known as .
Life.
Studying at college in his youth, he possessed a quick tongue. In 834, Emperor Ninmyō summoned him and appointed Yoshimi to serve him personally as a and . He was steadily promoted in the court. In 838 he was bestowed the rank of , in 840 promoted to , in 841 to , in 843 to and governor of Awa province, in 844 to director of the "kurōdo-dokoro", and in 846 to and . In 842, he also led 40 troops in surrounding Prince Tsunesada in the succession dispute known as the Jōwa Incident. Finally, in 848, he joined the ranks of the "kugyō" with a promotion to "sangi".
In 850, Yoshimi's nephew Crown Prince Michiyasu took the throne as Emperor Montoku. Yoshimi was promoted to and appointed as . In 851 he surpassed his brother Nagara, who had been first to make "sangi", with a promotion to "chūnagon", receiving the rank of in the same year. In 854, he was promoted again to "dainagon" and . In 857, when his brother Yoshifusa was made "daijō-daijin", Yoshimi filled his old rank of "udaijin". In 859, he was promoted to .
In 864 Yoshimi sent his daughter Tamiko as a bride to Emperor Seiwa. Yoshimi's older and more powerful brother Yoshifusa was cautious of his popularity and success. In the Ōtenmon Incident of 866, Yoshimi ordered Minamoto no Makoto's arrest based on the testimony of Tomo no Yoshio, but Yoshifusa protested Makoto's innocence and prevented it. After this, Yoshimi lost most of his political influence.
In 867, Yoshimi suddenly became ill in his chambers, and died that same month. He was posthumously granted the rank of . In accordance with his will, he was given a simple burial, his coffin covered with just a single sheet.
Personality and anecdotes.
According to the "Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku", Yoshimi was magnanimous and excelled since childhood. A deep believer in Buddhism, his long habit of abstaining from meat and eating simple food meant that all his life he was extremely thin.
The same text records a number of anecdotes about his life, as follow:
Legends.
The "Konjaku Monogatarishū" contains a story in which Yoshimi defends Ono no Takamura who was still a student, when the latter is accused of a crime. Later, Yoshimi dies of sickness and is taken before Enma in Hell. Takamura, now working in Enma's palace as a retainer and assisting in his judgments, intervenes, and Yoshimi is forgiven and returned to life.
Genealogy.
Although Yoshimi had many children, his eldest son Tokitsura died young after advancing to the rank of "dainagon", and none of his other descendants were able to reach the level of "kugyō". However, Yoshimi's obituary entry in the "Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku" does praise the talent and conduct of Tadakata and Naokata, and especially Tadakata's ability with clerical script. Yoshimi's brothers Yoshifusa and Nagara married their daughters to emperors Montoku and Seiwa and were thus able to become the grandfathers of the emperors born of those marriages, but while Yoshimi married off his daughters similarly, neither of them was fortunate enough to bear the emperor any children.