Princess Shokushi — Imperial Princess Who Served as Kamo Sai'in, the Peak of Introspective Love Poetry

Princess Shokushi’s Position

Princess Shokushi (Shikishi Naishinnō, 1149-1201) was a woman poet of the late Heian era. Although an imperial princess, she stayed single throughout her life, and left introspective love poems of sharpened refinement.

Forty-nine of her poems are included in the Shinkokin Wakashū — the most for any woman poet, and the fourth-highest overall including men, after Saigyō (94), Jien (91), and Yoshitsune (79). One of the principal poets of the Shinkokinshū.

The reading of “Shokushi” varies (Shokushi, Shikishi, Noriko); in modern usage “Shokushi” is common.

Life

Background

• Born in Kyoto in 1149 (Kyūan 5)
• Father: Emperor Go-Shirakawa (1127-1192) — a central political figure of the late Heian
• Mother: Fujiwara no Seishi (daughter of Suenari)
• Elder brother: Prince Mochihito — raised troops during the Jishō-Juei Disturbances, died in battle in 1180
• Emperor Go-Toba (who ordered the Shinkokinshū) was her nephew

Born a princess of Emperor Go-Shirakawa, she held high status by birth. But amid the political upheaval of the late Heian (cloistered government, Taira, Minamoto), imperial family too was in an unstable position.

The Kamo Sai’in (1159-1169)

In Hōgen 4 (1159), at age 10, she was chosen (by divine oracle) as Sai’in (imperial priestess) of Kamo Shrine. The Sai’in was an unmarried princess officiating at the Kamo Shrine, in principle unmarrying for life in service to the deity.

For 11 years Shokushi lived in the Sai’in Palace in Murasakino and served at Kamo Shrine. During this period she lived under strict ritual seclusion, with restricted worldly contact. That she spent her sensitive years from teens to twenties in isolation is often interpreted as the ground of her later introspective poems.

Kaō 1 (1169), age 20, she withdrew from the Sai’in on grounds of illness.

After Retirement from the Sai’in

After withdrawal, Shokushi returned to the capital and lived as a princess. But she never formally married and remained single all her life. Why she did not marry:

• Custom to have princesses who had served as Sai’in refrain from marriage
• Sickly, and could not reach marriage
• Marriage was politically difficult from her position

Whatever the reasons, Shokushi lived quietly as an unmarried princess through the late Heian and early Kamakura court.

Exchanges with Fujiwara no Teika

In the 1180s-1190s, Shokushi made Fujiwara no Shunzei (Teika’s father) her master in poetry, and had close exchange also with his son Teika (1162-1241). Teika was 13 years younger than Shokushi, and their relation of the young Teika visiting the mid-aged princess continued.

For this reason a later legend of “the love between Shokushi and Teika” was born (as in the nō play Teika, etc.), and there is a ghost story of the Teikakazura (a vine) clinging to Shokushi’s tomb. But there is no historical evidence that they were lovers.

Meeting Yoritomo — 1198

In Kenkyū 9 (1198), when Minamoto no Yoritomo came up to the capital, there is a record of his visiting Shokushi’s residence (Gyokuyō). Before and after this, Yoritomo also met Saigyō, actively engaging with cultured people of the capital. An episode showing Shokushi’s fame.

Death — 1201

On January 25, Kennin 1 (1201), Princess Shokushi died at 53. She was buried at Hannya-ji in the capital. The year before, Shokushi was on her sickbed, and several poems from that illness survive.

“Tama no o yo / taenaba taene / nagara-eba / shinoburu koto no / yowari mozo suru”

This is not a sickbed poem but a representative poem on giving up on life while hiding a fierce feeling. Details below.

Representative Poems

Representative Poem 1: Tama no O (Shinkokinshū 11, 1034; Hyakunin Isshu No. 89)

“Tama no o yo / taenaba taene / nagara-eba / shinoburu koto no / yowari mozo suru”

• tama no o — the cord of a necklace of jewels, by extension the cord of life (=the thread of life)
• taenaba taene — if it will be cut, then let it be cut
• nagara-eba — if I live on
• shinoburu koto no yowari mozo suru — the thing I hide (=the love-secret hidden in my heart) will weaken (=I will no longer be able to keep the secret)

“O life, if you will be cut, be cut. If I live on, I will not be able to hide the love I hold in my heart.” — an extreme introspection of protecting hidden love while wishing for death.

“Shinoburu” = “to keep secret” (classical usage). Interpretations of this poem vary:

• A resolve to guard a secret love until life ends
• A lament that passion cannot be restrained while life lasts
• The object of love unknown (Buddhist devotion; specific person; various)

Hyakunin Isshu No. 89. The best-known Shokushi poem for modern Japanese, showing the peak of love poetry.

Representative Poem 2: The Cherry and Time (Shinkokinshū 2, 149)

“Yama-fukami / haru to mo shiranu / matsu no to ni / taedae kakaru / yuki no tama-mizu”

• yama-fukami — because deep in the mountains
• haru to mo shiranu matsu no to — a pine-wood door that does not know it is spring (=a house deep in the mountains)
• taedae kakaru yuki no tama-mizu — the drops of melted snow that fall intermittently

A place deep in the mountains, still in winter without knowing spring has come. Onto that pine door fall the drops of melted snow intermittently. Depicts the fine flow of time in a place removed from the world. Might suggest Shokushi’s own lifelong seclusion.

Representative Poem 3: A Love One Cannot Forget (Shinkokinshū 12, 1204)

“Wasurete wa / uchi-nagekaruru / yūbe kana / ware nomi shirite / suguru tsukihi wo”

An evening when I forget (fall into distraction) and unconsciously sigh. The months and days I alone know and pass through. The memory of love hidden alone suddenly comes back at dusk. Characteristic of Shokushi’s introspective love.

Representative Poem 4: The Paulownia Leaf (Shinkokinshū 4, 534)

“Kiri no ha mo / fumi wake gataku / narinikeri / kanarazu hito wo / matsu to nakeredo”

Paulownia leaves have piled up so much that one can hardly step through them. Not that I am waiting for anyone in particular (=and yet I unconsciously do). The unconscious longing to wait overlaid on the quantity of fallen leaves.

Representative Poem 5: Early Spring Snow (Shinkokinshū 1, 3)

“Yama-fukami / haru to mo shiranu / matsu no to ni / taedae kakaru / yuki no tama-mizu”

(Note: This is a variant of Representative Poem 2, placed near the head of Shinkokinshū volume 1 as an important poem)

Representative Poem 6: Foreboding of Death (from the Shokushi Naishinnō-shū, not the Sankashū)

“Kure kakaru / tōyama mo miezu / nariyukeba / waga mi mo hitotsu / kiete yuku rashi”

The distant mountain of dusk becomes invisible too. It seems my body too disappears in the same way. The disappearance of vision and the disappearance of one’s body overlaid, a foreboding of death. Perhaps composed in illness.

Shokushi’s Style

1. Introspective Love Poems

Shokushi’s love poems do not specify a concrete counterpart. There is no “that person” or “he” designation; only inner longing and anguish are depicted. This creates the abstraction of Shokushi’s love, leaving the reader the blank “to whom is this love?”

2. The Theme of “Shinobu (Hidden)”

Common to Shokushi’s representative poems is the theme of “shinobu (=to keep secret)”. Because of her position as unmarried Sai’in and princess, she could not make love public — that social constraint conversely crystallized as poetry of hidden love.

3. High Abstraction

Shokushi’s poems have higher abstraction than other women poets (Izumi Shikibu, Ono no Komachi). Concrete scenes (night, dream, tears) are minimized, and only the outline of feeling is drawn. This resonates with the Shinkokin aesthetic of “yojō (lingering feeling).”

4. Master-Disciple with Shunzei and Teika

Shokushi studied waka under Shunzei and exchanged with Teika. Her style is deeply influenced by Shunzei’s “yūgen” and Teika’s “yojō.” Conversely, Teika’s style also had aspects influenced by Shokushi’s introspection.

The Background of “Tama no O yo” — Who is the Love?

Various theories about the object of the representative poem “Tama no o yo / taenaba taene”:

1. The Fujiwara no Teika Theory

Because of her deep relation with Teika, some hold it is a love for Teika. But age difference (Shokushi was 13 years older) and rank difference (imperial princess vs. middle noble) give no historical evidence of an actual love affair.

2. Yearning for Her Elder Brother Mochihito Theory

Her elder brother Prince Mochihito died in battle in 1180 after raising troops to overthrow the Taira. Some interpret it as a deep grief for that brother.

3. Love for the Buddhist Way Theory

The object of “shinoburu” is interpreted as the Buddhist Way (=enlightenment). The religious position of a royal woman expressed in the language of love.

4. “The Idea of Love” with No Specific Object

Shokushi had no specific lover; she made “love itself” the theme of her poems. This is the most modern and persuasive interpretation.

Whatever the case, “Tama no o yo” is a love poem of high abstraction that captures “a hidden, fierce passion itself” rather than a concrete lover — its universality reaches 800 years later.

Shokushi and Teika — the “Teikakazura” Legend

After Shokushi’s death, the legend of the “Teikakazura (Teika’s vine)” arose:

Nō play Teika (by Zeami, early 15th century):

• A monk traveling in various provinces visits Princess Shokushi’s tomb in a ruined temple in the capital
• A Teikakazura is coiled around the tomb
• This is Teika’s obsession, having become a vine and coiled around Shokushi’s tomb
• Shokushi’s ghost appears and complains of “the pain of being coiled by the vine”
• The monk performs a memorial and both spirits are saved

This legend turns the historical teacher-disciple friendship of Shokushi and Teika into a love story. Not factual, but through the medieval and early modern eras it fixed the image of “Shokushi = Teika’s lover.”

The scientific name of the modern Teikakazura (Trachelospermum asiaticum, Apocynaceae, a climbing plant) derives from this legend. In fact, Teikakazura is a climbing plant that coils around other plants — chosen as a symbol of “obsession.”

The Shokushi Naishinnō-shū — Personal Collection

The Shokushi Naishinnō-shū is Shokushi’s personal collection. Three types of manuscripts survive, with different content:

• Kō version — about 400 poems, arranged chronologically by composition
• Otsu version — about 300 poems, arranged by theme
• Hei version — fragmentary

Whether she compiled it herself in life or Teika and others edited it after her death is unknown. In any case, one of the most important personal collections of women poets.

Later Reception

Late Heian - Kamakura

Highly valued by Fujiwara no Shunzei and Teika; one of the main Shinkokin poets. But because of her special position as an unmarried princess, she was placed rather as “a shadowy presence” than deified.

Medieval - Zeami

Taken up by Zeami as protagonist of the nō play Teika. This is how the name “Shokushi” reached the general public.

Edo

The kokugaku scholars Kamo no Mabuchi and Motoori Norinaga stressed the power of the Man’yōshū and were rather cool toward Shokushi’s technique. But amid reassessment of women poets she gradually drew attention again.

After Meiji

Masaoka Shiki criticized the technique of the Kokin and Shinkokin, but Shokushi’s poems received a certain evaluation as the depth of individual passion.

Modern (20th-21st Century)

Princess Shokushi is an important subject of modern gender studies and waka scholarship as a rare poet who depicted the interior of a woman. “Tama no o yo” is invariably included in textbooks as one of the great poems of Japanese classical literature.

Toward the Next Article

Twenty years after the Shinkokinshū, around 1235, Fujiwara no Teika selected 100 famous poems from the 6th to the 13th century and had them affixed to the sliding-door paintings of his own villa (the sliding doors of Ogura Sansō). This is the origin of the “Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.” One hundred famous poems by emperors, aristocrats, monks, and women poets — through Edo-era karuta — became an item of Japanese education down to the present. The next article traces the Hyakunin Isshu and Teika’s selection criteria.