Princess Nukata

Princess Nukata (額田王, Nukata no Ōkimi, c. 630–690 CE) (also known as Princess Nukada) was a Japanese poet of the Asuka period.

The daughter of Prince Kagami and supposed younger sister of Princess Kagami, Nukata became Emperor Tenmu's favorite wife and bore him a daughter, Princess Tōchi (who would become Emperor Kōbun's consort). A legend claims that she later became consort to Emperor Tenji, Emperor Tenmu's elder brother, but there is no evidence to support this claim.

Nukata was one of the great female poets of her time; thirteen of her poems appear in the Man'yōshū: Nos. 7–9, 16–18, 20, 112, 113, 151, 155, 488, and 1606. (No. 1606 is a repeat of No. 488.) Two of the poems are reprinted in the later poetry collections Shinchokusen Wakashū and Shinshūi Wakashū.

Poem No. 9 is known as one of the most difficult poems within the Man'yōshū to interpret.

Original	Transcription	Rōmaji	Translation
莫囂圓隣之 大相七兄爪謁氣 吾瀬子之 射立為兼 五可新何本	莫囂円隣之 大相七兄爪謁気 我が背子が い立たせりけむ 厳樫が本	＊＊＊＊＊ ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ wa ga seko ga itataseri ken itsukashi ga moto	＊＊＊＊＊ ＊＊＊＊＊＊＊ ...my love will be standing at the foot of this sacred oak

The first two lines of the poem has already defeated modern scholarship to date. Some theories include:

• 木綿取りし　祝鎮むる (Yūtori shi, iwaishizumuru...), Kaoru Tani, claimed originally from Nukata herself

• 紀の国の　山越えて行け (Ki-no-kuni no yama koete yuke...), Kada no Azumamaro
• 三室の　山見つつ行け (Mimuro-no-yama mitsutsu yuke...), Mokichi Saitō
• 三諸の　山見つつ行け (Mimoro-no-yama mitsutsu yuke...), Kamochi Masazumi
• み吉野の　山見つつ行け (Miyoshino no yama mitsutsu yuke...), Tokujirō Oyama

• 香具山の　国見さやけみ (Kaguyama no kuni misayakemi...), Kaneko
• 坂鳥の　掩ふな朝雪 (Sakatori no ōuna asayuki...) Teiichi Kumekawa
• 静まりし　浦波さわく (Shizumarishi uranami sawaku...), Hisataka Omodaka
• 静まりし　大夫ら佇ち (Shizumarishi taburatsumadachi...), Mineko Kawaguchi
• 静まりし　雷な鳴りそね (Shizumarishi raina narisone...), Toshihiko Tsuchihashi
• 和まりし　相会ふそあけ (Nagomarishi aiau soake...)
• 勾の　田蘆見つつ行け (Magari no tabushi mitsutsuyuke...), Bunmei Tsuchiya
• まつち山　見つつこそ行け (Matsuchi-yama mitsutsu kosoyuke...), Inoue Michiyasu
• 夕月の　光踏みて立て (Yūzuki no kage fumite tate...), Sueo Itami
• 夕月の　仰ぎて問ひし (Yūzuki no aogite toishi...), Sengaku, Kimura Masakoto
• 夕月し　覆ひなせそ雲 (Yūzuki shi ōinaseso kumo...), Keitsū

References

• Kubota, Jun (2007). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten [Iwanami dictionary of Japanese classical literature] (in Japanese). Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6.
• Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten: Kan'yakuban [A Comprehensive Dictionary of Classical Japanese Literature: Concise Edition]. Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. 1986. ISBN 4-00-080067-1.
• Satake, Akihiro; Hideo Yamada; Rikio Kudō; Masao Ōtani; Yoshiyuki Yamazaki (2004). Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei, Bekkan: Man'yōshū Sakuin (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 4-00-240105-7.
• Mamiya, Atsushi (2001). Man'yō Nankunka no Kenkyū (in Japanese). Tōkyō: Hōsei Daigaku Shuppankyoku. ISBN 4-588-46007-2.
• pg 140 of Woman poets of Japan, 1977, Kenneth Rexroth, Ikuko Atsumi, ISBN 0-8112-0820-6; previously published as The Burning Heart by The Seabury Press.
• pg 103 of Seeds in the Heart