Suō no Naishi


Suō no Naishi was a Japanese waka poet of the late-Heian period. One of her poems was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, and thirty-five in imperial collections. She also produced a private waka collection, the Suō no Naishi-shū.

Biography

The daughter of Taira no Munenaka, the governor of Suō Province, her date of birth is unknown. Her given name was Nakako.
She served as handmaiden in the courts of four emperors, Go-Reizei, Go-Sanjō, Shirakawa and Horikawa.
In 1108, she took ordination as a Buddhist nun due to illness.
The date of her death is unknown, but she probably died around 1110.

Poetry

Thirty-five of her poems were included in imperial anthologies from the Goshūi Wakashū on.
The following poem by her was included as No. 67 in Fujiwara no Teika's Ogura Hyakunin Isshu:
She left a private collection, the Suō no Naishi-shū.