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Kodai no Kimi (小大君, fl. circa 990 CE), also known as Koōgimi) was a Japanese waka poet and noble from the middle Heian period.

During this period of time, the Japanese court was a place of literary flourishing for noble women, and many of the ladies in waiting were accomplished poets and authors. For instance, she was at court as the same time as another renowned female writer, Murasaki Shikibu, author of the great novel The Tale of Genji.

Kodai no Kimi was a lady-in-waiting in the courts of Emperor Ichijo (who reigned from 986-1011 CE) and his son, the crown prince Okisada who would eventually reign as Emperor Sanjo. In the court of the Crown prince, her position appears to have been that of chamberlain and secretary. Members of the court were expected to participate complex poetic activities, writing poems to exchange for everything from greetings to games to poet-vs-poet competitions. Kodai-no-Kimi was one of the most skilled.

She is one of only five women numbered as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals.

Many of her poems are in Japanese imperial poetry anthologies including Shūi Wakashū. There is some overlap between her personal poetry collection Kodai no Kimishū (小大君集) and Ono no Komachi's personal collection.

References

1. ^ Carpenter, John T.; McCormick, Melissa; Bincsik, Monika; Kinoshita, Kyoko; Midori, Sano (2019-03-04). The Tale of Genji: A Japanese Classic Illuminated. Metropolitan Museum of Art. ISBN 978-1-58839-665-5.
2. ^ Hosoda, Eishi (1991). Thirty Six Immortal Women Poets. WW Norton. ISBN 978-0-8076-1256-9.
3. ^ Cranston, Edwin A. (1993). A Waka Anthology, Volume Two: Grasses of Remembrance. Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-4825-4.
4. Murmured Conversations: A Treatise on Poetry and Buddhism by the Poet-Monk Shinkei. Stanford University Press. 2008-04-16. ISBN 978-0-8047-7939-5.
5. Japan), Princess Shikishi (daughter of Goshirakawa, Emperor of (1993-01-01). String of Beads: Complete Poems of Princess Shikishi. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-1483-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
6. Murasaki Shikibu: The Greatest Lady Writer in Japanese Literature. Japanese National Commission for Unesco. 1970.
7. Henderson, John S.; Netherly, Patricia (1993). Configurations of Power: Holistic Anthropology in Theory and Practice. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-0-8014-2487-8.
8. Laffin, Christina (2013-01-31). Rewriting Medieval Japanese Women: Politics, Personality, and Literary Production in the Life of Nun Abutsu. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-3785-3.

External links

• Kodai no Kimi's poetry online in Japanese

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