Princess Iwa
| Iwa | |
|---|---|
| Empress consort of Japan | |
| Tenure | 314–347 (traditional years) |
| Spouse | Emperor Nintoku |
| Issue |
|
| House | Imperial House of Japan |
Princess Iwa (磐之媛命, Iwa no hime no Mikoto, d. 347), sometimes known as Empress Iwa no hime (磐姫皇后, Iwa no hime kōgō), was a poet and the empress consort of Emperor Nintoku, who was the 16th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.[1] She was a descendant of Emperor Kōgen.[citation needed]
Biography
[edit]No firm dates can be assigned to Emperor Nintoku's life or reign, nor to that of his first wife. Nintoku is considered to have ruled the country during the late-fourth century and early-fifth century, but there is a paucity of information about him. There is insufficient material available for further verification and study.[citation needed]
Princess Iwa's poetry, or poems attributed to her, are included in the Kojiki, the Nihon Shoki and the Man'yōshū. Her tomb is said to be located in Nara Prefecture.
Literature
[edit]Poems which Iwa-no hime is said to have exchanged with her husband are related in the Kojiki and in the Nihon Shoki.[2] Nintoku is reported to have suffered the resentment of the Iwa-no hime during a period in which he stopped the collection of taxes, which meant that even ordinary repairs to the palace were also deferred.[3]
Poetry attributed to Iwa is collected in the Man'yōshū,[2] the oldest existing collection of Japanese poetry believed to have been collected by Ōtomo no Yakamochi (大伴 家持). In her four songs she expressed love and longing for her husband.[4][5] Some modern scholars, however, advise a healthy skepticism in these difficult to verify attributions.[6]
Burial mound tomb
[edit]The Imperial tomb of Iwa no hime no Mikoto is said to be located in Saki-chō in the city of Nara.[7] Both kofun-type Imperial tombs are characterized by a keyhole-shaped island located within a wide, water-filled moat.[8]
Issue
[edit]- Prince Ooe no Izahowake (大兄去来穂別尊) Emperor Richū
- Prince Suminoe no Nakatsu (住吉仲皇子)
- Prince Mizuhawake (瑞歯別尊) Emperor Hanzei
- Prince Oasatsuma wakugo no Sukune (雄朝津間稚子宿禰尊) Emperor Ingyō
Notes
[edit]- ^ Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du japon, pp. 22-24; Varley, Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki, pp. 110-111.
- ^ a b Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). "Iwa no Hime", Japan encyclopedia, p. 409.
- ^ Brownlee, John S. and Tarō Sakamoto. (1991). The Six National Histories of Japan, p. 64.
- ^ Sato 2008, p. 16.
- ^ Man'yōshū Best 100 Archived 2014-08-03 at the Wayback Machine, poems 85–88
- ^ Hall, John Whitney et al. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan: Ancient Japan, p. 474.
- ^ Iwa-no hime no Mikoto's misasagi -- map (upper right) Archived 2012-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ see kofun context of kofun-like elements Archived 2008-01-19 at the Wayback Machine
References
[edit]- Brownlee, John S. and Tarō Sakamoto. (1991). The Six National Histories of Japan. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 978-0-7748-0379-3]
- Cranston, Edwin A. (1998). A Waka Anthology: The Gem-Glistening Cup. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-3157-7
- Hall, John Whitney, Delmer M. Brown, Marius Jansen. (1993). The Cambridge History of Japan: Ancient Japan. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-22352-2
- Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 58053128
- Sato, Hiroaki (2008). Japanese women poets: an anthology. M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
- Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Annales des empereurs du Japon (Nihon Ōdai Ichiran). Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691
- Varley, H. Paul. (1980). Jinnō Shōtōki: A Chronicle of Gods and Sovereigns. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-04940-5; OCLC 59145842
gou_Flag.svg)
