| The Lovers | |
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| Ariwara no Narihira
(823-880) was the fifth son of Prince Aho and a grandson of the emporer Heijo. He and his brothers, on their father's advice, renounced their royal rank and became noblemen, Narihira owned estates near the former capital of Nara and held a succession of government offices. The year before he died, he was lieutenant general of the Left Divison of the Imperial Guard. He is best known for his poetry, a major contribution to the culture of the Heian period (794-1185). His most famous work is the Ise monogatari, or Tales of Ise. A collection of his verse appeared in the Kokin wakashu (Anthology of Poems Old and New) complied in 905 by the poet Ki no Tsurayuki. In the late 18th century--the Edo period--the Wakashu poets won renewed popularity as part of a Japanese revivalist movement. |
The Imperial Princess
(name and dates unknown) was an important guardian of the Great Shrine of Ise in southern Honshu. It was there that she had her brief affair with Ariwara no Narihira. The inner shrine of the Ise complex was dedicated to Amaterasu Omikami, the Sun Gooddess from whom--according to Shinto mythology--the emperors of Japan were descended. |
