Nijo castle Kyoto (photo : Françoise Drain)

________________

Nijo, a former Japanese court lady, composed in 1307 a literary memoir called Towazugatari (“unrequested tale”). She begins her book in 1271: fourteen years old, beautiful and talented, she catches the eye of GoFukakusa, a retired emperor, and soon becomes his concubine. ¹

We also know she was of some importance by her being given the name Nijo, which translates to “Second Avenue” and was a common way of indicating position. ²

Writing at the height of the Kamakura period ³, Lady Nijô produced an account of her life, from the dizzying aristocratic heights as Emperor GoFukakusa’s favorite lover, to the spiritual struggle of an old wandering Buddhist nun. ⁴

“I have continued to note down all these trifling details of my life, even though I cannot aspire to having left posterity anything worth reading.”

– excerpt from a diary or memoir written by Lady Nijo, a Japanese courtesan, born in 1258. ⁵

Sadness

Now I am anxious about the outcome of my long-cherished desire, and I worry lest the faith I have kept these many years prove fruitless. When I attempted to live in lonely seclusion, I felt dissatisfied and set out on pilgrimages modeled after those of Saigy?, whom I have always admired and wanted to emulate. That all my dreams might not prove empty, I have been writing this useless account—though I doubt it will long survive me. ⁶

Lady Nijo’s confessions ⁷

_____________________

Le Towazugatari est un journal intime, forme très en vogue à l’époque Heian, de la dame de cour japonaise Nijô.

Dame Nijo
Cet ouvrage, écrit par Dame Nijô ⁸, une aristocrate du XIIIe siècle au service de l’empereur GoFukakusa ⁹, est à la fois un journal intime, une chronique de la vie de cour, un roman d’amour, un recueil de poèmes, un journal de voyage et un récit de pèlerinage. On y découvre le destin étonnant d’une femme qui rêvait de devenir impératrice et qui, renvoyée du palais, entra dans les ordres.

Ce témoin historique de la vie de la cour à l’époque, rédigé à la fin du XIIIe siècle, fait partie des œuvres majeures de la littérature japonaise. ¹⁰ :

Las, les choses humaines sont d’une fragilité qui défie l’expression ! Ainsi, le gouverneur qui, le neuvième jour, s’était rendu au chevet de l’empereur agonisant avait fini, en ce jour, par précéder le mourant. Qui a l’assurance d’être le premier sur le mont Tai ? Mais, pour n’être point nouvelle, cette vicissitude du destin n’en était pas moins pitoyable.

Dame Nijô

____________

Maison de la culture du Japon à Paris

Japanese literature

Japanese Book News is published quarterly by the Japan Foundation to make available to overseas readers up-to-date information on new books and recent topics of Japan’s publishing culture.

Japanese Classical Literature

Early Japanese Women Poets — Monographs, Diaries, Small Collections ¹¹

The List of Japanese Biblioblogs

The Diary Junction blog Occasional posts on diaries in the news

1. Forced Affection Rape as the First Act of Romance in Heian Japan by Anthony J. Bryant [back]
2. The Dynamics of Poetry in Japanese Society by Andrew Cole RECOUNTING THE PAST A Student Journal of Historical Studies at Illinois State University [back]
3. Kamakura period chronology – www.samurai-archives.com [back]
4. Lady Nijo’s Own Story (Towazugatari) May 17, 2008
   Authors, Japanese — 1185-1600 — Biography [back]
5. Lady Nijo’s Own Story (Towazugatari) May 17, 2008 – Asian Classics Project
   Female Waka Poets: Love poetry in the Kokinshû By S. Yumiko Hulvey University of Florida [back]
6. “Lady Nijo is Sad” [back]
7. Lady Nijô Translated by Karen Brazell Stanford University Press, 1973 (1976 reissue); Pages: xxxi, 288 Review © 2001 Branislav L. Slantchev [back]
8. Nijo /Nakanoin Masatada no musume [1257/8-aft.1308] [back]
9. abstract : “The next day, when the high priestess was to arrive, oxen handlers, messengers, and imperial guards were dispatched by the dowager empress to meet her. GoFukakusa took special pains with his costume. He wore a yellow informal robe lined in green, with a design of burnet flowers worked into it, over a light violet gown bearing gentian flower crests, His light violet trousers were lined in green, and everything was carefully scented. At dusk her arrival was announced. The doors on the south side of the main room had been opened and dark gray curtained screens set out with smaller curtain stands inside. Soon after Empress Omiya received her, a court lady came to tell us: ‘The former High Priestess has arrived. This is an out-of-the-way place and I’m afraid our hospitality is sadly lacking, so please come to visit with her.’ GoFukakusa went at once, and as usual I accompanied him, carrying his sword.” — Lady Nijo – [source : studio visit with andrea higgins toddhosfelt’s Weblog April 28, 2008 [back]
10. Splendeurs et misères d’un favorite, Editions Philippe Picquier, Collection Le Pavillon des corps curieux, 713 p. (2004) ISBN 2-87730-719-0 [back]
11. Introduction to Idiophonics (Natural Sounds) in Early Japanese Women’s Poetry with prose and poetry by Princess Shikishi, Chiyo-ni, Otagaki Rengetsu, Abutsu-ni, Lady Ise, Michitsuna no Haha, Sei Shonagon, Priestess Senshi & Ema Saiko [back]