Akazome Emon

File:Akazome Emon.png and color Kusazōshi by Komatsuken]]

{{nihongo|Akazome Emon|赤染衛門||extra=late 950s or early 960s – 1041 or later}} was a Japanese waka poet and early historian who lived in the mid-Heian period. She is a member both of the {{nihongo|Thirty Six Elder Poetic Sages|中古三十六歌仙|Chūko Sanjūrokkasen}} and the Thirty-Six Immortal Women Poets.

Biography

Akazome Emon's year of birth is unknown,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} but she was likely born between Tentoku 1 (957) and Kōhō 1 (964).{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} She was officially the daughter of {{Ill|Akazome Tokimochi|ja|赤染時用}},{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Mostow |first=Joshua S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U0KcAwrVksQC&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA316 |title=Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image |date=1996-01-01 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-1705-3 |language=en}} but the late-Heian karonsho (book of poetic criticism) {{interlanguage link|Fukuro-zōshi|ja|袋草紙}} records that her biological father was her mother's first husband, Taira no Kanemori.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}

A poetic exchange between Emon and Fujiwara no Michitaka, dating to around Ten'en 2 (974) to Jōgen 2 (977),{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} when she was likely in her late teens, is the earliest dateable event in her life.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} At roughly this time, she went to serve in the household of Minamoto no Masanobu,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last1=Bary |first1=Wm Theodore De |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aWxN1Fq_ueoC&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA243 |title=Sources of Japanese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600 |last2=Gluck |first2=Carol |last3=Tiedemann |first3=Arthur |date=2002-04-10 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-51805-5 |language=en}} and for a long time thereafter she served his daughter Rinshi (ja), the wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last1=Fu |first1=Charles Wei-hsun |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qaRtdo3Ib6gC&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA176 |title=Japan in Traditional and Postmodern Perspectives |last2=Heine |first2=Steven |date=1995-07-01 |publisher=State University of New York Press |isbn=978-1-4384-0344-1 |language=en}}

It was also around this time (Ten'en–Jōgen) that she married {{interlanguage link|Ōe no Masahira|ja|大江匡衡}},{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} a Confucian scholar and poet of both waka and kanshi.{{Cite book |last=Egerton |first=George W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ys4x1wgIpcoC&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA114 |title=Political Memoir: Essays on the Politics of Memory |date=1994 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-3471-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Watanabe |first=Takeshi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=09seEAAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA51 |title=Flowering Tales: Women Exorcising History in Heian Japan |date=2021-01-11 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-1-68417-609-0 |language=en}} They had a son, {{interlanguage link|Ōe no Takachika|ja|大江挙周}},{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} a daughter, Gō Jijū (江侍従),{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} and one more daughter.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} The couple were considered to be {{nihongo|"lovebirds"|おしどり夫婦|oshidori fūfu}}.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}

According to her personal waka collection, the Akazome Emon Shū (赤染衛門集), when Masahira was twice sent to serve in Owari Province, she accompanied him both times.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last1=Hérail |first1=Francine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zJ0uOHASY4MC&dq=Akazome+Emon+owari&pg=PA48 |title=Poèmes de Fujiwara no Michinaga: ministre à la cour de Hei.an (995-1018) |last2=Fujiwara |first2=Michinaga |date=1993 |publisher=Librairie Droz |isbn=978-2-600-03327-5 |language=fr}} The collection also indicates that she worked to ensure her son's professional success at court{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} and presented poems as offerings to Sumiyoshi Shrine{{clarification needed|reason=Which one?|date=February 2018}} when he fell ill.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last1=Ichien |first1=Mujū |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9zJ6VZC5hgUC&dq=Akazome+Emon&pg=PA166 |title=Sand and Pebbles: The Tales of Mujū Ichien, A Voice for Pluralism in Kamakura Buddhism |last2=Morrell |first2=Robert E. |date=1985-01-01 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-88706-059-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Sato |first=Hiroaki |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gVffBQAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+sumiyoshi&pg=PT89 |title=Japanese Women Poets: An Anthology: An Anthology |date=2014-12-18 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-46696-3 |language=en}} The Fukuro-zōshi portrays her as gently supporting her husband when he was overwhelmed by his official duties.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} These works present Emon as a good wife and wise mother (良妻賢母 ryōsai kenbo).{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} She also devoted much effort to her service as Rinshi's lady-in-waiting.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}

In Chōwa 1 (1012), her husband died,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} and a few years later Emon became a nun.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Kōdansha |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WvApAQAAMAAJ&q=Akazome+Emon+nun |title=Kodansha Encyclopedia of Japan |date=1983 |publisher=Kodansha |isbn=978-0-87011-620-9 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_DEwTJq3TbcC&dq=Akazome+Emon+nun&pg=PA552 |title=Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press |isbn=978-0-231-11441-7 |language=en}} She apparently lived a long and tranquil life from this point,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} living to see the birth of her great-grandson Ōe no Masafusa in Chōkyū 2 (1041).{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Shirane |first=Haruo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yOL3QataG7kC&dq=Akazome+Emon+masafusa&pg=PR15 |title=The Bridge of Dreams: A Poetics of 'The Tale of Genji' |date=1987 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=978-0-8047-1719-9 |language=en}}

Akazome Emon served Minamoto no Rinshi and Fujiwara no Shōshi, who were, respectively, the wife and daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and she was present at the Imperial court at the same time as Izumi Shikibu.{{Cite book |last=Bhattacharya |first=Sagnik |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y-37CgAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+shikibu&pg=PT20 |title=A Hundred Autumn Leaves: The Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Translated and Annotated |date=2015-11-12 |publisher=Partridge Publishing |isbn=978-1-4828-5919-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Egerton |first=George W. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ys4x1wgIpcoC&dq=Akazome+Emon+shikibu&pg=PA114 |title=Political Memoir: Essays on the Politics of Memory |date=1994 |publisher=Psychology Press |isbn=978-0-7146-3471-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Kawashima |first=Terry |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JfcFEAAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+shikibu&pg=PA62 |title=Writing Margins: The Textual Construction of Gender in Heian and Kamakura Japan |date=2020-10-26 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-1-68417-356-3 |language=en}} She was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, who praised her writing, and Sei Shōnagon.{{Cite book |last1=Rexroth |first1=Kenneth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BMQwLapofkC&dq=Akazome+Emon+shinagon&pg=PA142 |title=Women Poets of Japan |last2=渥美育子 |date=1982 |publisher=New Directions Publishing |isbn=978-0-8112-0820-8 |language=en}}

The year of her death is uncertain,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} but she probably lived until at least 1041.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}

Poetry and other writings

Emon remained active in waka composition until late in life,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} contributing poems to uta-awase competitions on the sixteenth day of the fifth month of Chōgen 8 (1035), the Kanpaku-Sadaijin-ke Uta-awase (関白左大臣家歌合),{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} and 1041, the Kokiden no Nyōgo Uta-awase (弘徽殿女御歌合).{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Ito |first=Setsuko |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CaIPAAAAYAAJ&q=Akazome+Emon+uta-awase |title=An Anthology of Traditional Japanese Poetry Competitions: Uta-awase (913-1815) |date=1991 |publisher=Brockmeyer |isbn=978-3-88339-948-5 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u3q9BwAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+uta-awase&pg=PA809 |title=Shinkokinshū (2 vols): New Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern |date=2015-02-24 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-04-28829-4 |language=en}} She also contributed a screen poem (屏風歌 byōbu-uta) to celebrate Rinshi's seventieth year, in 1033.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}

She left a personal collection, the Akazome Emon Shū,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} and she is also believed to have been the writer of the first part of Eiga Monogatari.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Drott |first=Edward R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lB7HDwAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+monogatari&pg=PA112 |title=Buddhism and the Transformation of Old Age in Medieval Japan |date=2016-05-31 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |isbn=978-0-8248-6686-0 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Brownlee |first=John S. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uF09DgAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+monogatari&pg=PA45 |title=Political Thought in Japanese Historical Writing: From Kojiki (712) to Tokushi Yoron (1712) |date=2006-01-01 |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-88920-874-2 |language=en}} Her poetry was incorporated into court anthologies from the Shūi Wakashū on.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} She ranks fourth in the number of her poems that were included in the Goshūi Wakashū,{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}{{Cite book |last=Yip |first=Leo Shingchi |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8KLACwAAQBAJ&dq=Akazome+Emon+wakashu&pg=PA69 |title=China Reinterpreted: Staging the Other in Muromachi Noh Theater |date=2016-04-04 |publisher=Lexington Books |isbn=978-1-4985-2060-7 |language=en}}{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KuoZAQAAIAAJ&q=Akazome+Emon+wakashu |title=Shika Waka Shu; Compiled by Fujiwara Akisuke; Translated by Donald M. Richardson |date=1995 |language=en}} with a total of 32.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}} More than 60 of her poems were included in the Kin'yō Wakashū and later court anthologies.{{sfnm|1a1=Saitō|1y=1986|1p=3}}