was a Japanese poet and the son of

Emperor Tenmu was the 40th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 天武天皇 (40) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 53. Tenmu's re ...

Background

His mother was

Princess Ōta (644?–668?) was royalty in Japan during the Asuka Period. She was the eldest daughter of Emperor Tenji. She was the elder sister of Princess Uno-Sarara. She was the mother of Princess Ōku and Prince Ōtsu. Her mother was Lady Ochi, whose ...

whose father was

Emperor Tenji , also known as Emperor Tenchi, was the 38th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'')天智天皇 (38)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.Ponsonby-Fane, Richard. (1959). ''The Imperial House of Japan'', p. 5 ...

. He was therefore the younger full-blood brother of

Princess Ōku Ōku (Japanese: or ) (February 12, 661 – January 29, 702) was a Japanese princess during the Asuka period in Japanese history. She was the daughter of Emperor Tenmu and sister of Prince Ōtsu. As a young girl, she witnessed the Jinshin War. A ...

. His consort was

Princess Yamanobe (? – October 25, 686) lived during the Asuka Period. She was a daughter of Emperor Tenji. Her mother was Lady Hitachi, whose father was Soga no Akae. She married Prince Ōtsu, and they had 1 son: Prince Awazuou (粟津王). When Prince Ōtsu wa ...

, daughter of Emperor Tenji, thus his cousin. His life is known from the '' Nihon Shoki'', and his personality emerges through such poetry anthologies as ''

Kaifūsō The is the earliest extant poetry anthology of literary Sinitic ('' kanshi'') written by Japanese poets. It was compiled in 751. In the brief introduction of the poets, the unknown writer seems sympathetic to Emperor Kōbun and his regents who ...

'' and ''

Man'yōshū The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...

''. As a poet, Ōtsu is best known for the letters he exchanged with Lady Ishikawa. Prince Ōtsu was a popular and able figure who was a likely successor of his father to the imperial throne, but was forced to commit suicide after false charges of rebellion were laid against him by

Empress Jitō was the 41st monarch of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 持統天皇 (41)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Jitō's reign spanned the years from 686 through 697.Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). In the history o ...

in order to promote her own son,

Prince Kusakabe was a Japanese imperial crown prince from 681 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Tenmu. His mother was the empress Unonosarara, today known as Empress Jitō. He was the sole child of his mother. According to '' Nihon Shoki'', i ...

, to the position of crown prince.

Poems

Two examples of his work are below, including the

death poem The death poem is a genre of poetry that developed in the literary traditions of East Asian cultures—most prominently in Japan as well as certain periods of Chinese history and Joseon Korea. They tend to offer a reflection on death—both in g ...

— Poem sent by Prince Ōtsu to Lady Ishikawa Gentle foothills, and
in the dew drops of the mountains
soaked, I waited for you –
grew wet from standing there
in the dew drops of the mountains. Farewell poem Momozutau / iware no ike ni / naku kamo wo / kyō nomi mite ya / Kumokakuri nan. Today, taking my last sight of the mallards Crying on the pond of Iware, Must I vanish into the clouds!

Influence

Japanese poet and scholar

Shinobu Orikuchi , also known as , was a Japanese ethnologist, linguist, folklorist, novelist, and poet. As a disciple of Kunio Yanagita, he established an original academic field named , which is a mixture of Japanese folklore, Japanese classics, and Shintō. He ...

featured a fictionalised version of Prince Ōtsu in his novel ''Sisha no Sho'' (''The Book of the Dead'', also made into a

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

Kihachirō Kawamoto was a Japanese puppet designer and maker, Independent film, independent film director, screenwriter and animator and president (corporate title), president of the Japan Animation Association from 1989, succeeding founder Osamu Tezuka, until his ...

) as a

restless ghost In mythology and folklore, a vengeful ghost or vengeful spirit is said to be the spirit of a dead person who returns from the afterlife to seek revenge for a cruel, unnatural or unjust death. In certain cultures where funeral and burial or crema ...

kept on Earth by the memory of a young woman whose gaze he connected with just prior to his death. 663 births 686 deaths Japanese rebels Japanese princes Japanese male poets 7th-century Japanese poets Man'yō poets People from Fukuoka Prefecture Sons of emperors {{Japan-royal-stub