Princess Nukata

, also spelled Nukada, was a Japanese poet of the Asuka period.

The daughter of Template:Ill 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.

Poetry

Nukata was one of the great female poets of her time; thirteen of her poems appear in the : 7–9, 16–18, 20, 112, 113, 151, 155, 488, and 1606 (poem 1606 is a repeat of 488). Two of the poems are reprinted in the later poetry collections Shinchokusen Wakashū and Shinshūi Wakashū.

Poem 8

Nukata composed this poem in c. Template:Trim at the harbor of Nikita-tsu in Iyo Province as an imperial fleet invaded Kyushu:

熟田津に船乗りせむと月待てば
     潮もかなひぬ今は漕ぎ出でな
Nikita-tsu ni funa norisemu to tsuki mateba
shio mo kanainu ima wa kogiidena
At Nikita Harbor we have waited for the moonrise before boarding our boats. The tide has risen, now let us row out!
( 1:8)

Poem 9

The ninth poem of the Man'yōshū is known as one of the most difficult poems within the Man'yōshū to interpret. Nukata composed this poem in 658 when Empress Saimei went to a hot spring in Kii Province:

莫器圓隣之大相七兄爪湯氣吾瀬子之
     射立爲兼五可新何本
(Man'yōshū 1:9)

A common interpretation for the later part of the poem is by Keichū: , which translates to "...my beloved who stands at the foot of the sacred oak".

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

• , "I see clearly the country atop mount Kagu, o..." (Kaneko)
• , "I went and crossed the mountains of Kii province to..." (Kada no Azumamaro, Tachibana Chikage, Mizue Aso)
• , "The hillside birds have covered the morning snow, o..." (Teiichi Kumekawa)
• , "The inlet's once quietened waves have become noisy, o..." (Hisataka Omodaka, Thomas McAuley)
• , "It's the once-declined trick of standing on one's toes, o..." (Mineko Kawaguchi)
• , "The once quieted thunder has finally roared loudly, o..." (Toshihiko Tsuchihashi)
• , "Our calmed down meetings have widened, o..." (Yamatai association)
• , "I went and saw the twisted field-reeds, o..." (Bunmei Tsuchiya)
• , "It is by seeing mount Matsuchi that I walked with..." (Michiyasu Inoue)
• , "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of Mimuro, o..." (Mokichi Saitō)
• , "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of Mimoro, o..." (Masazumi Kamochi)
• , "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of fair Yoshino, o..." (Tokujirō Oyama)
• , "The evening moon's light covers the clouds, o..." (Keitsū)
• , "The evening moon's light stands in step, o..." (Sueo Itami)
• , "As I looked up the evening moon, I asked..." (Sengaku, Keichū, and Masakoto Kimura)
• , "As celebration dies down, I took mulberry rope to..." (Kaoru Tani)

According to Alexander Vovin, the first two lines should be read in Old Korean, whereby their meaning is similar to the one proposed by Sengaku:

莫器圓隣之大相七兄爪湯氣我が背子が
     い立しけむいつか新顔
nacokʌ-s tʌrari θi-ta-po-n-[i]-isy-a=ca mut-ke waga seko ga
i-tatashikemu itsu ka niigao
After I looked up at the evening moon, I did ask: "My beloved probably went there on a journey. When would I see his face again?"

Poem 20

Nukata composed this poem when Emperor Tenji was out hunting in Gamōno (or the field of Une, now part of Ōmihachiman and Yōkaichi, Shiga):

1. REDIRECT Template:Wikt-lang

Template:Redirect template紫野行き標野行き
     野守りは見ずや君が袖ふる

akane sasu murasakino yuki shimeno yuki
nomori wa mizu ya kimi ga sode furu
Through the shining madder-red murasaki field and through the marked-off field I go. Did not the field-guard see you waving your sleeve [at me]?
(Man'yōshū 1:20)

References

• Template:NKBJ
• Template:NKBD

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