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Princess Iwa

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 consortofEmperor 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]

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