Shirome Explained

Shirome (白女) was a minor female Japanese waka poet, who lived during the 10th century CE.^{[1] [2]}

She was born in Eguchi, Settsu Province (摂津国江口, modern day Osaka) and thought to be a daughter of a minor aristocrat Settsunokuni Tamabuchi (摂津国玉淵). Her occupation was an asobi/yujo (遊女), often translated as courtesan.^[3] Later in history the terms asobi/yujo frequently indicated someone who did sex work, however during the Heian period (794-1185) the terms often referred to a woman who was trained in the art of singing and dancing - similar to the latter day Geisha.^[4] Her performance in front of an abdicated emperor is recorded in a book Okagami (大鏡), The Great Mirror, and other sources.^[5]

A poem of hers was included in the Kokin Wakashū:^[6]

If I were only sure

I could live as long as I wanted to,

I would not have to weep

at parting from you.

命だに心にかなふ物ならばなにか別れの悲しからまし

References

• Kenneth Rexroth, Ikuko Atsumi, Woman poets of Japan, 1977, pgs. 19 & 142 ; previously published as The Burning Heart by The Seabury Press.
• "Shadows of Transgression: Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution" by Janet R. Goodwin. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 327–368

External links

• https://web.archive.org/web/20070928002346/http://www.earlywomenmasters.net/masters/poets/bibliography.html
• http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~sg2h-ymst/yamatouta/sennin/sirome.html

Notes and References

1. Book: Brocade by Night: 'Kokin Wakashu' and the Court Style in Japanese Classical Poetry . October 1985 . Stanford University Press . 978-0-8047-6645-6 . en.
2. Book: McCullough, Helen Craig . Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry: With 'Tosa Nikki' and 'Shinsen Waka' . 1985 . Stanford University Press . 978-0-8047-1258-3 . en.
3. Nikolaevna . Trubnikova Nadezhda . 2019 . Once Again About the "Miraculous Power of Waka": Setsuwa Tales About Poets in the Jikkinshō . Russian Japanology Review . 2 . 2 . 66–91 . 2658-6444.
4. Book: Goodwin, Janet R. . Selling Songs and Smiles: The Sex Trade in Heian and Kamakura Japan . 2006-12-31 . University of Hawaii Press . 978-0-8248-6425-5 . en.
5. Book: Seigle, Cecilia Segawa . Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan . 1993-03-01 . University of Hawaii Press . 978-0-8248-1488-5 . en.
6. Sato . Hiroaki . 1977 . Review of The Burning Heart: Women Poets of Japan . The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese . 12 . 2/3 . 281–284 . 10.2307/489170 . 489170 . 0885-9884.