Background
Waka poetess. Daughter of Prince Kagami, she served Emperor Temmu, and gave birth to Princess To-ochi. She was also a favorite with Emperor Tenchi. A woman of great beauty and intelligence. Her poems are remarkable in that they are the first to concern the traditional literary controversy : Which of spring and autumn is the better season. She lived until the reign of Empress Regnant Jito. The Manyoshu Anthology contains three Jong poems and 10 waka by her. It is said that the civil war in 672 (Jinshin-no-Ran) might have been caused by the feud between Emperors Temmu and Tenchi over her.