Lady Ise

• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: –
  • Family: Fujiwara no Tsugukage (father) Nakatsukasa (daughter)
  • Birth: c.875AD
  • Death: c.938AD

Lady Ise

Lady Ise (伊勢) was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, and therefore a member of the Fujiwara Clan. She was also the mother to Nakatsukasa. She is thought to have lived from c.875-c.938.¹ (877-938² 877-940⁴)

Her real name is unknown and stems from Ise Province where her father was stationed as Governor.³

During her lifetime she was a lady-in-waiting to Fujiwara no Onshi I¹³ later having a child with Emperor Uda.¹ With the Emperors son Prince Atsuyoshi she gave birth to her daughter Nakatsukasa.³

A talented poet, her poems can be found in several places. 22 can found in the Kokinshū and 72 (70³) in the Gosenshū.¹ Her poems can also be found in the Ise Monogatari.⁴ Lady Ise additionally had a personal collection of poetry called the Iseshū. She is listed as one of Fujiwara no Kintō’s Thirty Six Poetic Geniuses.³

One of her poems can be found in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (No.19) and goes as follows:

Footnotes

1. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
2. Suzuki, H. et al. (1997) ”Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu”. Tokyo: Bun’eidō.
3. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.
4. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.

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