The Tragedy of Lady Izumi

The twilight years of the Heian Period of Japan (late 12th century) mark the high-point of the refined Imperial Court, its aristocracy and their literary culture. Poetry at this time, epitomized by the Hyakunin Isshu, was a popular past-time and frequent means of corresponding between men and women (often on the sly). A person’s career or reputation could be made or broken by a skillful, or clumsy, poem. Many of the ladies-in-waiting serving the court aristocracy would also go on to become famous writers in Japanese literature:

• Lady Murasaki (Japanese: murasaki-shikibu 紫式部) – who wrote the first Japanese novel, the Tales of Genji, and her own diary is a fascinating read. She is part of the social circle around Empress Shōshi. She is also known for poem 57 in the Hyakunin Isshu anthology.
• Sei Shonagon – who wrote the Pillow Book, a free-form thought about the minutia of Heian Period society. Sei Shonagon was part of a rival social circle centered around Empress Teishi. She is known for poem 62 in the Hyakunin Isshu.
• Akazome Emon – another accomplished poet in the same social circle as Lady Murasaki. She composed poem 59 of the Hyakunin Isshu among her many other accomplishments.

And finally we come to perhaps the most the most controversial, and yet one of the most brilliant ladies among this generation of ladies-in-waiting turned writers: Lady Izumi. In Japanese she is called Izumi Shikibu (和泉式部).

Like all women at the time, her real name is not known. She is named after her husband’s region of administration (Izumi province), and her father’s role in the Imperial court as master of ceremonies (shikibu 式部). Lady Izumi was born into the elite aristocracy in Heian society of the time, but she distinguished herself both with her particular skill in poetry and with her tendency to get involved in scandalous relationships.

While unhappily married to her husband, Tachibana no Michisada, she had an affair with Prince Tametaka, the third son of Emperor Reizei, which caused her to be divorced and shunned by her family. Her ex-husband also took custody of their only child, a daughter named Koshikibu no Naishi (poem 60 in the Hyakunin Isshu). However, before long her lover Prince Tametaka died due to illness.

Later, Prince Tametaka’s brother Prince Atsumichi approached Lady Izumi and a romantic relationship began. Lady Izumi’s “Diary of Lady Izumi” (izumi shikibu nikki 和泉式部日記) covers this period of time, and their correspondences to one another. For example, she composed the following as a reply to Prince Atsumichi:

Japanese	Romanization	English
薫る香に	Kaoru ka ni	Rather than recall
よそふるよりは	yoso uru yori wa	in these [tachibana] flowers
ほととぎす	hototogisu	the fragrance of the past,
聞かばや同じ	kikaba ya onaji	I would like to hear this nightingale’s voice,
声やしたると	koe yashitaru to	to know if his song is as sweet.

She also left behind many romantic poems such as this one (undated, so it’s unclear who he is), which I was surprised to see quoted in the drama Thirteen Lords of the Shogun:

Japanese	Romanization	English
黒髪の	Kuro kami no	My black hair’s
乱れても知らず	midarete shirazu	in disarray — uncaring
うち臥せば	uchi fuseba	he lay down, and
まづかきやりし	mazu kakiyarishi	first, gently smoothed it:
人ぞ恋しき	hito zo koishiki	my darling love.

Since she was divorced anyway, she moved in with the Prince and her relationship with Prince Atsumichi was an open scandal for the Court. They would often be seen riding his carriage through the capitol. Prince Atsumichi’s wife was furious about the affair, and returned to her family, while public criticism of the couple became increasingly harsh and unavoidable.

In the end, Prince Atsumichi, like his brother, died from illness at the age of 27. Lazy Izumi was once again heartbroken.

By this point, Lady Izumi had few options, and no support from her family, so she was taken in as a lady in waiting for Empress Shoshi,¹ where she served alongside another notable ladies Akazome Emon and Lady Murasaki. Empress Shoshi’s father, the ambitious Fujiwara no Michinaga, wanted to gather as much talent under his household as he could. However, Lady Murasaki didn’t think too highly of her:

Izumi Shikibu is an amusing letter-writer; but there is something not very satisfactory about her. She has a gift for dashing off informal compositions in a careless running-hand; but in poetry she needs either an interesting subject or some classic model to imitate. Indeed it does not seem to me that in herself she is really a poet at all.

— trans. Waley, “Diary of Lady Murasaki”

Later, Lady Izumi married Fujiwara no Yasumasa and moved to the provinces, and she was reunited with her only daughter (now in her 20’s). Tragedy struck yet again as her daughter died soon after the reunion, leaving behind two children of her own. Lady Izumi was devastated by this loss, but thinking of her grandchildren, she wrote:

Japanese	Romanization	English
留め置きて	todome okite	Left behind [grandmother and grandchildren]
誰をあはれと	tare wo aware to	whose loss do you
思ひけん	omoi ken	think is more pitiful?
子はまさるらん	ko wa masaruran	The children’s loss is worse
子はまさりけり	ko wa masarikeri	Indeed, the children’s loss is worse.

By this point, she devoted herself to the Buddhist path as a lay nun named Seishin Insei Hōni (誠心院専意法尼). One of her last poems she composed, poem 56 in the Hyakunin Isshu, is:

Japanese	Romanization	English
あらざらむ	Arazaran	Among my memories
この世の外の	Kono yo no hoka no	of this world, from whence
思ひ出に	Omoide ni	I will soon be gone,
今ひとたびの	Ima hitotabi no	oh, how I wish there was
逢ふこともがな	Au koto mo gana	one more meeting, now, with you!

This poem, based on Japanese commentaries I’ve read, wasn’t meant to be a simple chat, she was likely missing someone she was still intimately involved with, though it’s unclear who.

Lady Izumi is a fascinating figure to me. She was obviously quite attractive. In a very closed, and high-scrutinized society as the Heian-era court aristocracy, multiple men of very high rank risked considerable scandal just to be with her. In layman’s terms, men of the time thought she was really hot.

Even today, she is the subject of many romantic manga (Japanese comics) written for young women in Japan:

As well as stories about her life:

But Lady Izumi was also more than a femme fatale. She was obviously quick-witted, had many poetic talents, plus she was a loving mother (and grandmother), and a devout Buddhist who suffered many losses in her life. To me, she epitomized the bittersweet life of being a woman in Heian Period aristocratic society.

¹ As Empress Shoshi was the second wife of Emperor Ichijō and a pawn in the power-struggles between two rival branches of the Fujiwara clan (the other faction tied to Emperor Ichijo’s first wife Empress Teishi), this was not a great position to be in, at least until Empress Shoshi successfully gave birth to a son.