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 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period. The Yamato polity evolved greatly during the Asuka period, which is named after t ...

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. Tenmu's re ...

and sister of

Prince Ōtsu was a Japanese poet and the son of Emperor Tenmu. Background His mother was Princess Ōta whose father was Emperor Tenji. He was therefore the younger full-blood brother of Princess Ōku. His consort was Princess Yamanobe, daughter of Emper ...

. As a young girl, she witnessed the

Jinshin War The was a war of succession in Japan during the Asuka period of the Yamato state. It broke out in 672 following the death of Emperor Tenji. The name refers to the ''jinshin'' (壬申) or ninth year of the sixty-year Jikkan Jūnishi calendrica ...

. 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 A , was an unmarried female member of the Imperial House of Japan, Japanese Imperial Family, sent to Ise, Mie, Ise to serve at Ise Grand Shrine from the late 7th century until the 14th century. The Saiō's residence, , was about 10 km north ...

'' to serve at

Ise Grand Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inn ...

. After the death of her brother

in 686, she returned from Ise to

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

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. Kōgyoku's reign spanned the years from 642 to 645. Her reign as Saimei encompassed 655 to 661. In other ...

's way to

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

. Her name was derived from her birthplace. She had a younger brother named

, 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 ''

'' by her father,

, and sent to the

Saikū The , was a palace complex located in what is now the Takegawa neighborhood of the town of Meiwa, Tai District, Mie Prefecture, Japan. Forming a small village, it was established in the Nara period as the palace and public offices of the ''Saiō' ...

near

Ise Shrine The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and . The Inner ...

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

Amaterasu Amaterasu, also known as Amaterasu Ōmikami () or Ōhirume no Muchi no Kami (), is the goddess of the sun in Japanese mythology. One of the major deities (''kami'') of Shinto, she is also portrayed in Japan's earliest literary texts, the ''Kojik ...

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 (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings in a ...

are credited to Ōku in the ''

''. The following tell the story of the death of her brother,

. :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 , officially , were a part of the Japanese Special Attack Units of military aviators who flew suicide attacks for the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, intending to ...

. :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 Japanese princesses 661 births 702 deaths 7th-century Japanese women writers 7th-century Japanese poets 8th-century Japanese women writers 8th-century Japanese poets Man'yō poets Saigū Japanese Shintoists People from Ehime Prefecture People from Ōzu, Ehime Daughters of emperors

Genealogy

''Man'yōshū'' poetry

See also

References

External links