Name Princess Nukata Children Princess Tochi Parents Emperor Tenmu | Died 690 AD Role Poet Grandchildren Prince Kadono | |
Cousins Empress Jito, Emperor Kobun, Empress Genmei Similar People Emperor Tenmu, Emperor Tenji, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Emperor Jomei | ||
Princess Nukata (額田王, Nukata no Ōkimi, c. 630–690 CE) (also known as Princess Nukada) was a Japanese poet of the Asuka period.
The daughter of Prince Kagami and supposed younger sister of Princess Kagami, Nukata became Emperor Tenmu's favorite wife and bore him a daughter, Princess Tōchi (who would become Emperor Kōbun's consort). A legend claims that she later became consort to Emperor Tenji, Emperor Temmu's elder brother, but there is no evidence to support this claim.
Nukata was one of the great female poets of her time; thirteen of her poems appear in the Man'yōshū: Nos. 7–9, 16–18, 20, 112, 113, 151, 155, 488, and 1606. (No. 1606 is a repeat of No. 488.) Two of the poems are reprinted in the later poetry collections Shinchokusen Wakashū and Shinshūi Wakashū.
Poem No. 9 is known as one of the most difficult poems within the Man'yōshū to interpret.
The first two lines of the poem has already defeated modern scholarship to date. Some theories include: