Koshikibu no Naishi

Koshikibu no Naishi, from the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

Koshikibu no Naishi (小式部内侍, ? - 1025) was a Japanese waka poet of the early eleventh century.^[1][2][3] One of her poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.^[1][2][4][5]

Biography

She was the daughter of Izumi Shikibu and Tachibana no Michisada (橘道貞),^[1][2][3] the governor of Mutsu.^[1]

Starting around 1009,^[2] she joined her mother^[2][3][4] in serving Empress Shōshi.^[1][2][3][4]

A target of many suitors, she eventually married Fujiwara no Kiminari (藤原公成).^[2] She bore him a child, but died thereafter, still in her late twenties.^[1][2][3]

Poetry

Four^[4] of her poems were included in imperial anthologies such as the Goshūi Wakashū and the Kin'yō Wakashū.^[1][3]

The following poem by her was included as No. 60 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:

Japanese text[1]	Romanized Japanese[6]	English translation[7]
大江山 いく野の道の 遠ければ まだふみも見ず 天の橋立	Ōe-yama ikuno no michi no tookereba mada fumi mo mizu ama no hashidate	How could my mother help me write this poem? I have neither been to Ōe Mountain nor Ikuno nor have any letters come from her in a place so far away it's called— The Bridge to Heaven.

In later literature

Numerous anecdotes about her were incorporated into later treatises on poetry (歌論書 karonsho) and setsuwa collections.^[1]

An otogizōshi, Koshikibu, was also written.^[1]

References

1. Britannica Kokusai Dai-hyakkajiten article "Koshikibu no Naishi". 2007. Britannica Japan Co.
2. Mypaedia article "Koshikibu no Naishi". 2007. Hitachi Systems & Services.
3. Digital Daijisen entry "Koshikibu no Naishi". Shogakukan.
4. McMillan 2010 : 142 (note 60).
5. Suzuki et al. 2009 : XX.
6. McMillan 2010 : 167.
7. McMillan 2010 : 62.

Bibliography

• Keene, Donald (1999). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1: Seeds in the Heart — Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
• McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231143998
• Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.