Ōku (Japanese: or ) (February 12, 661 – January 29, 702) was a Japanese princess during the

Asuka period The was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710, although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato period, Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after the ...

in Japanese history. She was the daughter 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. He ascended ...

and sister of Prince Ōtsu. As a young girl, she witnessed the Jinshin War. According to the ''

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 ...

'' ("The Anthology of Ten Thousand Leaves"), she became the first '' Saiō'' to serve at

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

. After the death of her brother Prince Ōtsu in 686, she returned from Ise to

Yamato was originally the area around today's Sakurai, Nara, Sakurai City in Nara Prefecture of Japan, which became Yamato Province and by extension a Names of Japan, name for the whole of Japan. Yamato is also the dynastic name of the ruling Imperial ...

to enshrine his remains on Mt. Futakami, before a quiet end to her life at age 40.

Genealogy

Oku was born on the 8th Day of the 1st Month of the ''Saimei's era 7'' (661), in the cabin of the Imperial ship which dropped anchor in the sea of Ōku on the

Empress Kōgyoku , also known as , was the 35th and 37th monarch of Japan,Kunaichō 斉明天皇 (37)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession. Both her reigns were within the Asuka period. Kōgyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her r ...

's way to

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's Japanese archipelago, four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa Island, Okinawa and the other Ryukyu Islands, Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Ryukyu Islands, Islands ...

. Her name was derived from her birthplace. She had a younger brother named Prince Ōtsu, who was born three years later in Na no Ōtsu of Kyūshū. Her mother, Princess Ōta, died when Princess Ōku was seven years old. On the 9th Day of the 10th Month of the ''Tenmu's era 3'' (674), when she was twelve, she was appointed the '' Saiō'' by her father,

, and sent to the Saikū near

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the solar goddess Amaterasu Ōmikami and the grain goddess Toyouke-hime (Toyouke Omikami). Also known simply as , Ise Shrine is a shrine complex composed of many Shi ...

and spent thirteen years there as the Saiō to serve the Goddess

Amaterasu , often called Amaterasu () for short, also known as and , is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. Often considered the chief deity (''kami'') of the Shinto pantheon, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the () ...

that dwelt in the shrine. Her brother Ōtsu earned the Emperor's trust and became one of the candidates of succession. In 686, when the Emperor was dying, Ōtsu secretly visited the Saikū to see her, possibly to tell her that he was likely to succeed the throne after the Emperor died. She was very pleased to see him again and celebrated his promotion. However, after the Emperor died, Empress-consort Uno-no-Sarara had so much power that she declared that her son, Prince Kusakabe, should be appointed the next emperor. She declared Ōtsu a menace, and ordered the officers to arrest him. He was captured on the 2nd Day of the 10th Month, and a day later he was sentenced to death by hanging in his house of Osada. His death shocked Ōku, who was dismissed from the position of the ''Saio'' on account of Ōtsu's death. Death was considered impure, therefore no person with a near relative's death could serve a god or goddess. Ōku then returned to the capital from the Saikū. After returning to the capital, she composed three verses of lament for her brother, which are collected in the ''

''. After that, she neither did what was recorded in the chronicle nor married anybody. Her only known work by her vow was the foundation of a temple of Natsumi at the Nabari district in the province of Iga.

''Man'yōshū'' poetry

A number of

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

are credited to Ōku in the ''

''. The following tell the story of the death of her brother, Prince Ōtsu. :Upon the departure of Prince Ōtsu for the capital after his secret visit to the Shrine of Ise :To speed my brother :Parting for Yamato, :In the deep of night I stood :Till wet with the dew of dawn. :The lonely autumn mountains :Are hard to pass over :Even when two go together- :How does my brother cross them all alone! :On her arrival at the capital after the death of Prince Ōtsu :Would that I had stayed :In the land of Ise :Of the Divine Wind. :Why have I come :Now that he is dead! :Now that he is no more -- :My dear brother- :Whom I so longed to see, :Why have I come, :Despite the tired horses! :On the removal of Prince Ōtsu's remains to the Futagami mountains :From tomorrow ever :Shall I regard as brother :The twin-peaked mountain of Futagami- :I, daughter of man! :I would break off the branch :Of the flowering staggerbushNippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai, p. 22 n1. 'Ashibi (Pieris japonica)'', an evergreen wild shrub, whose tiny nodding white flowers open in clusters in early spring./ref> :Growing on the rocky shore; :But no one says he lives :To whom I would show it!

References

* * * -----. (1901). ''Kokka taikan''. Tokyo: Teikoku Toshokan, Meiji 30-34 897-1901 eprinted ''Shinten kokka taikan'' (新編国歌大観), 10 vols. + 10 index vols., Kadokawa Shoten, Tokyo, 1983–1992. ] * Nippon Gakujutsu Shinkōkai. (1940). ''Man'yōshū''. Tokyo: Iwanami shoten. [reprinted by Columbia University Press, New York, 1965. ] [reprinted by Dover Publications, New York, 2005. *

External links

* Kanji Haitani'
Man'yoshu Best 100
with explanations and translation.
2001 Waka: The Man'yôshû

日本古代史料本文データ
Downloadable lzh compressed file of text of Man'yōshū {{DEFAULTSORT:Oku 661 births 702 deaths 7th-century Japanese women writers 7th-century Japanese poets 8th-century Japanese women writers 8th-century Japanese writers 8th-century Japanese poets Man'yō poets Saiō Japanese Shintoists People from Ehime Prefecture People from Ōzu, Ehime Daughters of Japanese emperors

Genealogy

''Man'yōshū'' poetry

See also

References

External links