The second poem in our series devoted to Valentine’s Day is this one:

The poem was composed by Yōzei-in (陽成院, 868 – 949), known in English as Emperor Yōzei. Yozei was the firstborn son of Emperor Seiwa, and Empress Takaiko. Takaiko, is thought to have briefly eloped with Ariwara no Narihira, who wrote poem 17 (ちは) in the Hyakunin Isshu, as eluded to in episode six of the Ise Stories.

According to commentaries, the poem was intended for “the princess of Tsuridono” who was the daughter of Emperor Kōkō’s (poem 15, きみがためは).

Nevertheless, the analogy of Mount Tsukuba (modern-day Ibaraki Prefecture), pictured above, was an excellent choice. The mountain is famous in Japanese culture, especially for the two peaks: one called nantai (男体, “Man”) on the western side, and nyotai (女体, “Woman”) on the eastern side. It was a frequent topic used in love poetry back in the day. Even today, it is a very popular destination for tourists and nature lovers. This style of simple love poetry is something you’re likely to also see in older anthologies such as the Manyoshu or the Kojiki.

Sadly, Emperor Yozei is better known for his severe mental instability in later year. Anecdotes from the time relate how Yozei would commit odd or violent behavior, such as riding around the palace with his 30 horses, swinging around the legendary sword, Kusanagi, one of the Three Sacred Treasures of the Imperial Household, beating his wet nurse to death, and killing small animals for amusement. His behavior became increasingly erratic, and so he abdicated in favor of the aforementioned Emperor Koko in the year 884, at the age of 17.

….. or is that what really happened? My new book implies that there is a theory that the story of his insanity was made up by Koko’s faction, or possibly exaggerated as justification for a power-play. The fact that Yozei continued to live peacefully until the age of 82, composing poetry like the one above lends to the possibility that he was not as ill-health as first thought.