princess Nukata

Nukata was one of the great female poets of her time; thirteen of her poems appear in the {{Lang|ja-latn|Man'yōshū}}: 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.

Nukata composed this poem in {{circa|661}} at the harbor of Nikita-tsu in Iyo Province as an imperial fleet invaded Kyushu:

{{waka|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

|reading=Nikita-tsu ni funa norisemu to tsuki mateba
shio mo kanainu ima wa kogiidena

|translation=At Nikita Harbor we have waited for the moonrise before boarding our boats. The tide has risen, now let us row out!

|source={{Lang|ja-latn|Man'yōshū}} 1:8

}}

The ninth poem of the Man'yōshū is known as one of the most difficult poems within the Man'yōshū to interpret.Mamiya (2001: 1) Nukata composed this poem in 658 when Empress Saimei went to a hot spring in Kii Province:Vovin (2017: 38-39)

{{waka|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

|source=Man'yōshū 1:9

}}

A common interpretation for the later part of the poem is by Keichū: {{nihongo||...我が{{wt|ja|背子}}がい立たせりけむ厳樫が本|...waga seko ga / i-tataserikemu / itsukashi ga moto}}, which translates to "...my beloved who stands at the foot of the sacred oak".

The first two lines {{nihongo||莫器圓隣之　大相七兄爪湯氣}} has already defeated modern scholarship to date. Some theories{{Citation needed|reason=Requesting citation(s) for list below|date=October 2016}} include:

• {{nihongo||香具山の　国見さやけみ|Kaguyama no / kunimi sayakemi}}, "I see clearly the country atop mount Kagu, o..." (Kaneko)
• {{nihongo||紀の国の　山越えて行け|Ki-no-kuni no / yama koete yuke}}, "I went and crossed the mountains of Kii province to..." (Kada no Azumamaro, Tachibana Chikage, Mizue Aso)
• {{nihongo||坂鳥の　掩ふな朝雪|sakatori no / ōuna asayuki}}, "The hillside birds have covered the morning snow, o..." (Teiichi Kumekawa)
• {{nihongo||静まりし　浦波さわく|shizumarishi / uranami sawaku}}, "The inlet's once quietened waves have become noisy, o..." (Hisataka Omodaka, Thomas McAuley)
• {{nihongo||静まりし　たぶらつまだち|shizumarishi / taburatsumadachi}}, "It's the once-declined trick of standing on one's toes, o..." (Mineko Kawaguchi)
• {{nihongo||静まりし　雷な鳴りそね|shizumarishi / rai na nari so ne}}, "The once quieted thunder has finally roared loudly, o..." (Toshihiko Tsuchihashi)
• {{nihongo||和まりし　相会ふそあけ|nagomarishi / aiau so ake}}, "Our calmed down meetings have widened, o..." ([http://yamatai.cside.com/katudou/kiroku245.htm Yamatai association])
• {{nihongo||まがりの　田蘆見つつ行け|magari no / tabushi mitsutsuyuke}}, "I went and saw the twisted field-reeds, o..." (Bunmei Tsuchiya)
• {{nihongo||まつち山　見つつこそ行け|Matsuchi-yama / mitsutsu koso yuke}}, "It is by seeing mount Matsuchi that I walked with..." (Michiyasu Inoue)
• {{nihongo||三室の　山見つつ行け|Mimuro-no- / -yama mitsutsu yuke}}, "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of Mimuro, o..." (Mokichi Saitō)
• {{nihongo||三諸の　山見つつ行け|Mimoro-no- / -yama mitsutsu yuke}}, "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of Mimoro, o..." (Masazumi Kamochi)
• {{nihongo||み吉野の　山見つつ行け|mi-Yoshino-no- / -yama mitsutsu yuke}}, "I gazed upon and went to the mountains of fair Yoshino, o..." (Tokujirō Oyama)
• {{nihongo||夕月し　覆ひなせそ雲|yūzuki shi / ōinase so kumo}}, "The evening moon's light covers the clouds, o..." (Keitsū)
• {{nihongo||夕月の　光踏みて立て|yūzuki no / kage fumite tate}}, "The evening moon's light stands in step, o..." (Sueo Itami)
• {{nihongo||夕月の　仰ぎて問ひし|yūzuki no / aogite toishi}}, "As I looked up the evening moon, I asked..." (Sengaku, Keichū, and Masakoto Kimura)
• {{nihongo||木綿取りし　祝い鎮むる|yū torishi / iwai shizumuru...}}, "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:Vovin (2017: 38-53)

{{waka|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

|reading=nacokʌ-s tʌrari θi-ta-po-n-[i]-isy-a=ca mut-ke waga seko ga
i-tatashikemu itsu ka niigao

|translation=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?"Vovin (2017: 39)

}}

Nukata composed this poem when Emperor Tenji was out hunting in Gamōno (or the field of Une, now part of Ōmihachiman and Yōkaichi, Shiga):Vovin (2017: 74)

{{waka|{{wt|ja|茜さす|茜草さす}}紫野行き標野行き|野守りは見ずや君が袖ふる

|reading=akane sasu murasakino yuki shimeno yuki
nomori wa mizu ya kimi ga sode furu

|translation=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]?

|source=Man'yōshū 1:20

}}

{{reflist}}

{{refbegin}}

• {{NKBJ}}
• {{NKBD}}
• {{cite book|last1=Satake|first1=Akihiro|last2=Yamada|first2=Hideo|last3=Kudō|first3=Rikio|last4=Ōtani|first4=Masao|last5=Yamazaki|first5=Yoshiyuki|title=Shin Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei, Bekkan: Man'yōshū Sakuin|trans-title=The New Comependium of Japanese Classical Literature, separate volume: Index of the Man'yōshū|publisher=Iwanami Shoten|year=2004|location=Tōkyō|language=ja|isbn=4-00-240105-7}}
• {{cite book|last=Keene|first=Donald|author-link=Donald Keene|year=1999|title=Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century|publisher=Columbia University Press|isbn=0-231-11441-9|language=en}}
• {{cite book|last=Mamiya|first=Atsushi|title=Man'yō Nankunka no Kenkyū|trans-title=Analysis of Difficult to Read Man'yōshū Poems|publisher=Hōsei Daigaku Shuppankyoku|year=2001|location=Tōkyō|isbn=4-588-46007-2|language=ja}}
• {{cite book|last1=Rexroth|first1=Kenneth|last2=Atsumi|first2=Ikuko|year=1982|title=Woman Poets of Japan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BMQwLapofkC|publisher=J. Laughlin|isbn=0-8112-0820-6|language=en}}
• {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=awEtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA38|title=Man'yōshū: A New English Translation Containing the Original Text, Kana Transliteration, Romanization, Glossing and Commentary|last=Vovin|first=Alexander|date=2017-03-23|publisher=Brill|isbn=9-789-004-34670-3|language=en}}

{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nukata}}

Category:Year of birth unknown

Category:690 deaths

Category:7th-century Japanese women writers

Category:Japanese princesses

Category:7th-century Japanese poets

Category:Japanese women poets

Category:Man'yō poets

Category:7th-century Japanese women

Category:7th-century Japanese people

Category:Emperor Tenji

Category:Emperor Tenmu

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