I “Dew” Love You: Manyoshu Poem 88

This is a great example of a poem that’s very beautiful and sincere, yet also carries a darker history.

Original Manyogana1	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation3
秋田之	秋の田の	Aki no ta no	Like the
穂上尒霧相	穂の上に霧らふ う	Ho no é ni kirau	morning dew atop
朝霞	朝霞	Asakasumi	rice plant buds,
何時渡邊乃方二	何処辺の方に	Itsue no kata ni	whenever will my
我戀将息	わが恋ひい止まむん	Waga koi yaman	love for you evaporate?

This poem was composed by the wife of Emperor Nintoku, Iwanohimé no Ōkisaki (磐姫皇后) in the 4th century. Emperor Nintoku was a semi-legendary Emperor² who was known for his sagacity and for his very long reign. They are both interned in famous Kofun mausoleums, Nintoku in Osaka (shown below), and Iwanohime in Nara:

Empress Iwanohime was a very devoted wife, and wrote many other love poems to Nintoku as collected in the Manyoshu. Another example here is here, book 2, poem 85:

Original Manyogana4	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
君之行	君が行き	Kimi ga yuki	Your imperial outing
氣長成奴	日長くなりぬ	Kenagaku narinu	has gone on rather long, hasn’t it?
山多都祢	山尋ね	Yama tazuné	Shall I come out
迎加将行	迎へえか行かむ	Mukae ka yukan	to meet you?
待尒可将待	待ちにか待たむん	Machi ni kamatan	Or, shall I wait for your return?

This poem sounds rather playful, and Iwanohime evidentially misses her husband and longs to see him again soon.

However, my book on the Manyoshu explains that the Iwanohime was also very clingy and jealous, since Nintoku had a frequent tendency to sleep around. In one infamous story recorded in the Kojiki, Nintoku slept with his own half-sister, Yata no Himémiko (八田皇女), while Iwanohime was away on family business. When she found out, she was quite furious and returned to her ancestral home, and refused to see him later when he apologized. Later, when Iwanohime passed away, Nintoku married that half-sister.

At first glance, Iwanohime’s poetry to Nintoku feels like a case of love and devotion, but given the stormy relationship they had, my book on the Manyoshu strongly implies that these poems also betray a sense of clingy desperation too.

P.S. Apologies for the terrible pun in the title. 😋

¹ Sources: http://manyou.plabot.michikusa.jp/akinotano-honoheni.html and https://manyo-hyakka.pref.nara.jp/db/detailLink?cls=db_manyo&pkey=88

² As noted in this post, the rulers of old “Yamato” were not actually Emperors are retroactively called emperors in later history since it is a single, continuous lineage with the modern Imperial family.

³ Apologies for any mistakes here.

⁴ Sources: https://manyo-hyakka.pref.nara.jp/db/detailLink?cls=db_manyo&pkey=85 and https://jti.lib.virginia.edu/japanese/manyoshu/Man2Yos.html and http://manyou.plabot.michikusa.jp/manyousyu2_90.html