#rice ears

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勅穂積皇子遣近江志賀山寺時但馬皇女御作歌一首
One verse composed by Tajima no hime-miko when Hodzumi no miko was dispatched to a mountain temple at Shiga in Ōmi.

遺居 戀管不有者 追及武 道之阿廻尓 標結吾勢
後れ居て恋ひつつあらずは追ひ及かむ道の隈廻に標結へ我が背
okure yite/kopitutu arazu pa/opi sikamu/miti no kumami ni/shime yupe wa ga se
Rather than staying behind and being consumed by longing, I shall follow you–at each turn in your path, leave a trail for me, my love!
(MYS 1-115, Tajima no Hime-miko)

There is a series of three poems, 114-116, that deal with the illicit affair that apparently took place between Tajima no hime-miko, an imperial princess (daughter of Tenmu by Hikami no otome, a daughter of Fujiwara no Kamatari) , and Hozumi no Miko, an imperial prince and her half-brother with a different mother (it was the norm for members of the imperial family to marry their half-siblings of different mothers at this point). This was not illicit because of their shared father (shared fathers were ok, but not shared mothers, in sexual relationships between siblings; there is another tragic love story in MYS between two full siblings–Prince Karu and Princess Sotōri, perhaps I will post about this later), but because Tajima had previously been married to their elder brother, Takechi, Tenmu’s son by yet another woman (albeit of lower status, a woman of the Munakata family known as Amako no otome). (Side note: Tenmu had a lot of consorts, and therefore many children, which was partly the reason for a lot of bloodshed in the late seventh century as Jitō, one of Tenmu’s consorts and also daughter of his elder brother Tenchi whom he succeeded by force in 672, sought to keep succession in her line - when her son Kusakabe died prematurely, she herself seized power in order to ensure the throne would pass to her grandson, Kusakabe’s son Prince Karu/Emperor Monmu). It is not clear if this affair coming to light was the reason for Hozumi’s “exile” mentioned here - it is possible that it was considered bad form for Tajima to switch husbands, and so Hozumi was punished for this; it is also possible, according to another theory, that he was simply dispatched to Sūfukuji, a temple located in the old capital of Ōmi (modern day Ōtsu, Shiga prefecture) as an imperial representative. Such a command was tantamount to exile, especially for a member of the imperial clan, because of its distance from the capital, and thus Tajima’s distress at his being sent so far away. It seems likely that his being sent to Sūsenji had something to do with their relationship, since their parting is probably primarily of interest in this context, and its inclusion in MYS probably does have something to do with the interest, as well as the pathos, of it all. The previous poem (114) has Tajima, still in Takechi’s household, declaring to Hozumi that she will go to him, even if they are to incite rumors:

但馬皇女在高市皇子宮時思穂積皇子御作歌一首
One verse composed by Tajima no hime-miko, on longing for Hozumi no miko, when she was residing within Takechi no miko’s palace
秋田之 穂向乃所縁 異所縁 君尓因奈名 事痛有登母
秋の田の穂向きの寄れる片寄りに君に寄りなな言痛くありとも
aki no ta no/po muki no yoreru/kata yori ni/kimi ni yori na na/kochitaku ari tomo
Like the ears of rice that lean in one direction in the autumn fields, let me lean toward you–even if rumors are to arise.

This poem, in immediately preceding the one above, sets the stage that something is not quite “proper” about Tajima’s desire for Hozumi, and yet the pathos of the situation lies in the inability of either to control their emotions, and thus they say “damn it all” to rumors–however, despite this noble declaration, reality steps in between them, and he is, as we know, sent away. This first poem is amsuing in that it puns on Hozumi’s name by referring to the “ears of rice” that “lean” in one direction in the autumn fields, while the first character of Hozumi’s name is this same 穂 “ear of rice.” (The second character means “to pile up,” and it is possible to understand his name as “prince of the piled up rice ears,” if you want, but most names in this period are made up of “ate-ji” or characters chosen mostly for their correspondence to the sound of a person’s name, but also with an idea of “good meanings” in mind). However, I led the post with the second poem in the sequence because I think it is more evocative, in that it is not a mere declaration of love, but a counterfactual proposition that plays on the physical aspects of “going into exile” in order to convey the depths of longing of Tajima for Hozumi.
/okure yite/kopitutu (staying behind/longing and longing) is what we know she will be doing. She, in reality, cannot follow him–this seems to have been a purposeful separation. But rather than writhing in agony from the separation, she expresses her desire to follow him into exile, where he is traveling on a long road farther and farther from the capital - and she asks him to leave a trail for her. This is what particularly appealed to me about the verse - there is a real sense of a physical landscape where he is receding into the distance, but in order to be able to find a way to him, she asks that he leave signs for her along the path, so that she might follow. There is this deep pathos in the specificity offered by such an image - a concrete picture of a path along which she may travel to him, and yet we know she cannot follow. The reality of her inability to follow is contained in the final “my love” which seems to crystallize a desperation that pervades the rest of the poem. Ending with such an exclamation emphasizes the grieving woman, and provides a picture of her shouting after him, begging him to not go, begging him to leave a trail for her, she’ll meet him there.
I paired with this verse a photo of a path between peaks at Hōraisan, my favorite mountain that borders Biwako in Shiga - on the northeast side of the lake. I thought the tall grass meshed nicely with the “ho” (rice ears) image, while the sense of leaving a trail at the corners of the paths while traveling to the Shiga mountains seemed to fit overall with this photograph. This is one mountain I definitely want to revisit, should I have the chance - there’s an amazing waterfall on the way up, and beautiful views of the lake from the top.