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Early Women Writers

Lady Ise (Ise no Miyasudokoro)

Item

Author

Lady Ise (Ise no Miyasudokoro)

Location

Heian-kyo (modern day Kyoto)

Dates

875 - after 938

Biography

Lady Ise was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, a mid-ranking official. Ise entered into service at court when her father was governor of the province of Ise and consequently inherited her name. She was regarded as one of the foremost masters of the waka form during her lifetime; twenty-two of her poems were included in the Kokin Wakashu. [Source:Mulhern, Chieko Irie. Japanese Women Writers: a Bio-critical Sourcebook. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994.]

Works

Ise Shu, Poetry

Languages

Japanese

Genres

Poetry

Editions and Translations

Sato, Hiroaki. Japanese Women Poets: An Anthology. New York: Routledge, 2015. ; McCullough, Helen C, tr. Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1985 ; Sato, Hiroaki and Burton Watson, eds. and tr. From the Country of Eight Islands. New York: Columbia UP, 1986.

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