Michitsuna no haha biography

Japanese waka poet in the Mid Heian period

Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha (藤原道綱母, c. 935–995) was a waka poet in the Mid Heian period.^[1] She was in her mid-thirties when she began to write her journal Kagerō Nikki, written in a combination of waka poems and prose.

Her diary gave access to a woman's experience of a thousand years ago, with poems she recorded which vividly recall the past.^[2] These poems conveyed the life of a noblewoman during the Heian Period.

Kagero nikki

She is one of the Nihon Sandai Bijin (The Three Beauties of Japan). Her true name is unknown to history.

Name

While her true name is unknown to history, she is known by the name "Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha," that translates to "Fujiwara clan's Michitsuna's Mother".

Life

She was the daughter of a provincial governor, Fujiwara no Tomoyasu, a member of the middle-ranking aristocracy of the Heian period (794–1185) from which were drawn men who served as p