was a Ryuka poet (1650?–1668?) who was born to a poor peasant in the village of

Yomitan is a village located in Nakagami District, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Geography Yomitan is located on the western coast of the central part of Okinawa Island. The village is bound to the north by Onna, to the east by Okinawa City, to the ...

in the

Ryukyu Kingdom The Ryukyu Kingdom, Middle Chinese: , , Classical Chinese: (), Historical English names: ''Lew Chew'', ''Lewchew'', ''Luchu'', and ''Loochoo'', Historical French name: ''Liou-tchou'', Historical Dutch name: ''Lioe-kioe'' was a kingdom in the ...

. She worked in Yoshiya, an Akasen or red-light district house, in the 17th century. She charmed many

pechin , or , historically ''Opoyakomoi'', was a rank among the Yukatchu class of the former Ryukyu Kingdom (modern-day Okinawa, Japan), above the rank of Satunushi and below the rank of Ueekata. As scholar-officials, they often served in administrative p ...

by her literary ability and beautiful looks. A legend tells that she fell in love with the

Aji Aji or AJI may refer to: Location *Aji (town), Tieling County, Liaoning, China *Aji Island, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan *Aji, Kagawa, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan * Aji River (disambiguation), rivers with the same name Other * Aji (Go), a latent tr ...

of Nakazatu, but she committed suicide via starvation on hearing her freedom was bought by a rich man called Kurogumo, at age 18.

Historicity

No contemporary source mentions Yoshiya, probably for her humble status. Some ryuka traditionally attributed to her are probably not her own. She is a protagonist of , written in Classical Japanese, by the pro-Japanese Ryukyuan official Heshikiya Chōbin (circa 1730), where she is referred to as ''Yoshiya-kimi'' (よしや君) and is said to have been born in 1650 and died in 1668. Fuku Hiromi noted that Yoshiya means "what will be will be" in Japanese poetry, which Heshikiya was familiar with. Kadekaru Chizuko pointed out that earlier sources did not identify the composer of poems attributed to Yoshiya today. Hokama Shuzen observed that her poems reflected

waka Waka may refer to: Culture and language * Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand ** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe ** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe ** Waka taua, a Māori w ...

-style artifice and thus were composed some time around the early 18th century.

Her Ryuka

At age 8, she had to cross the Hija Bridge between Kadena and

to be sold to a house. Ryukyuan language :恨む比謝橋（ひじゃばし）や　情け無（ね）ぬ人の :我身（わみ）渡さと思て　架けて置（う）ちぇら :流れゆる水に　さくら花浮きて :色美（いろちゅ）らさあてど　掬くてみちゃる :寄る辺無（べね）ん物や　海士（あま）の捨て小舟 :着く方ど頼む　繋ぎたぼり :たのむ夜や　更けておとずれも　無いらぬ :一人山の端の　月に向かいて Pronunciation :''Uramu Hijabashiya Nasakenenu Hitunu'' :''Wamiwatasato Umute Kaketeuchera'' :''Nagareyuru Mizuni Sakurabana Ukiti'' :''Irochurasa Atedo Sukutemicharu'' :''Yorubenen Munuya Amano Sutekobune'' :''Tukukatado Tanumu Tugitabori'' :''Tanumuyaya Fuketei Otozuren Nenun'' :''Hityui Yamanufanu Tutini Nkati'' Translation :I bear a grudge against Hija Bridge, a person with ill feeling :might construct it, in order for me to pass it ::(She had to go to a red-light district house) :Cherry blossoms are floating on the flowing water :They are so beautiful, that I unintentionally dipped them up :There is a boat discarded by a fisherman, floating and not reaching the shore :the shore is the only safe spot. Please help me who is like the boat, without dependable persons :The promised night is passing. There is no atmosphere of his visiting me :I am alone, facing the moon rising on the edge of a mountain

References

External links

琉歌, Ryuka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yoshiya, Chiru 1650s births 1660s deaths 17th-century Ryukyuan people