Diario di una concubina imperiale

by Lady Nijō, Lydia Origlia (Curatore)

Il Giappone del XIII secolo rivive nelle pagine di questo diario, scritto da una donna affascinante e raffinata, la nobile Nijò. Nata a Kyoto nel 1258 da una delle più illustri famiglie dell'epoca, Nijò fu educata alla Corte imperiale e a tredici anni divenne concubina dell'ex imperatore Go Fukakusa: la bellezza, l'animo sensibile, l'ingegno artistico, la cultura classica e soprattutto il fascino che esercitava, avrebbero potuto permetterle di divenire imperatrice; invece, per le sue intemperanze amorose e per l'odio di una rivale fu allontanata da corte a venticinque anni e da allora, fattasi monaca, si dedicò ai viaggi e alla stesura di questo diario, il più vivido e palpitante affresco dell'antico Giappone.
L'unione contraddittoria ma intensissima con Go Fukakusa, il dolore per la morte del padre, la relazione segreta con l'inquietante cugino, la sacrilega e tormentata passione del principe-monaco, la nascita dei figli, l'esilio dalla Corte, la nuova vita di monaca e di pellegrina, i viaggi in luoghi incantevoli e selvaggi, tra monti e boschi sacri, gli incontri con guerrieri, sacerdoti, prostitute, mercanti di schiavi, sono descritti con leggiadria, con passione, con dolore, con impavida schiettezza.

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction, History, Japanese Literature, Classics, Memoir, Biography Memoir

2082 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1307

About the author

Lady Nijō (後深草院二条 Go-Fukakusain no Nijō) (1258 – after 1307) was a Japanese historical figure. She was a concubine of Emperor Go-Fukakusa from 1271 to 1283, and later became a Buddhist nun. After years of travelling, around 1304-7 she wrote an autobiographical novel, Towazugatari (literally "An Unasked-For Tale", commonly translated into English as The Confessions of Lady Nijō), the work for which she is known today, and which is also the only substantial source of information on her life.

Lady Nijō was a member of the powerful Fujiwara Nijō Family. Her father and paternal grandfather held important positions at the imperial court, and many of her relatives and ancestors had high reputations for their literary abilities. Her real name does not survive. The name "Nijō" was given to her at the court: it was common practice at the time to designate court ladies by street names, and "Nijō" ("Second Avenue") designates a high rank. According to the Towazugatari, Emperor Go-Fukakusa was in love with Nijō's mother, Sukedai. However, she died shortly after Nijō was born, and Go-Fukakusa turned his affections to Nijō. She was taken to the court at the age of four, and was subsequently raised there. The Towazugatari begins in 1271, when Nijō, aged 14, is given by her father to Go-Fukakusa as a concubine.

The novel proceeds to describe Nijō's life at the court, which was plagued by numerous troubles. Her father died when she was 15, and her relationship with the emperor was strained from the beginning, because she took several other lovers over the years, including one whom she knew before becoming a concubine. Matters were complicated further by Nijō's pregnancies: the only child she bore to Go-Fukakusa died in infancy, and the other three children she had were not by the emperor. Go-Fukakusa's consort, Higashi-nijō, was greatly displeased with Nijō's behaviour and Go-Fukakusa's apparent affinity for the concubine. Ultimately, it was due to Higashi-nijō's request that Nijō was expelled from the court in 1283.

Nijō's fate is revealed in books 4 and 5 of Towazugatari. Like many women in Medieval Japan whose lives met with unfortunate circumstances, Nijō became a Buddhist nun. She traveled to saсred and historical places, returning to the capital regularly. Book 4 begins in 1289, skipping several years (thus leading scholars to believe that some material may be missing); book 5 skips some more years and describes Nijō's grief at Go-Fukakusa's death in 1304. Towazugatari ends in 1306, and nothing is known about what happened to Nijō afterwards or when she died.

Nijō's autobiography did not enjoy wide circulation. A single 17th-century copy was discovered in the 20th century, with several gaps in book 5, noted by the scribe. The scholar who found Towazugatari was Yamagishi Tohukei. The book was published in 1950, with a complete annotated edition following in 1966. There were two English translations; The Confessions of Lady Nijō by Karen Brazell (1973), and Lady Nijō's own story; Towazugatari: the candid diary of a thirteenth-century Japanese imperial concubine by Wilfrid Whitehouse and Eizo Yanagisawa (1974).

Reviews

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I pretty much read my early Japanese lit in ascending order of awesomeness, because from Lady Murasaki’s diary on up to this little gem, they’ve been steadily improving!

Kamakura-era Lady Nijo had a lot more fun than her Heian-period counterparts of Lady Murasaki, Lady Sarashina, and Lady Mayfly, it seems. In her world, there’s a lot of sake and a lot of partying and a lot more freedom as a woman.

Sex partners in Lady Nijo’s world are sort of like Pokemon cards, or the bikini section at Target. Trade, borrow, mix and match, go wild. There aren’t many rules you have to follow, unless the rules are “get drunk, have fun, and hide yo kids if you get pregnant.”

Oh, and if you fuck someone you have to write them a poem the morning after. Very important. Don’t worry too much, it doesn’t have to be good.

Also, they play some bizarre game where the people of the court go around beating each other up and blaming their “abusers’” family and oops-not-so-secret lovers, who then have to give the “victim” gifts. And everybody laughs. Uhhhhh okay. Chalk it up to the sake.

Lady Nijo’s not locked into an annoying marriage and she’s pretty free in her role of concubine to the emperor, even if he is a pedophile and a rapist (that she somehow actually falls in love with). She’s a social butterfly and a quirky party girl who obviously spends most of her life enjoying herself, quite a contrast to the woe-is-me chorus from the Heian girls.

Even when she’s exiled from court for fucking her emperor’s brother/archnemesis (that’s the one ball of yarn he didn’t want her winding, apparently) she becomes a Buddhist nun, which she doesn’t seem to mind, and spends all her time traveling around, contrary to everyone’s expectations. She continues to have adventures and plenty of profound experiences on her way.

Lady Nijo’s pretty much a free spirit who doesn’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. She’s a talented writer and can be extremely funny, but is quite capable of being serious and giving gravity to her own emotions. I loved her.

I should add it was noteworthy to see that The Tale of Genji had a major influence on Nijo’s life even centuries later. It’ll be interesting reading Genji after all these authors have mentioned its influence on them.

This lovely quote was my favourite: I wished that I could renounce this life and wander wherever my feet might lead me, learning to empathize with the dew under the blossoms and to express the resentment of the scattering autumn leaves.”

I was also touched by the very last line: ”That all my dreams might not prove empty, I have been writing this useless account—though I doubt it will long survive me.” Dear lady, it did! It did!

[Stephen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tale "I wondered why I should have to be so torn between two men when so many women in the world could devote themselves solely to one man." It could be that Nijo feels this way because she has just heard one of her lovers, the ex-Emperor say, "I have made enquiries far and wide and I am deeply convinced that sexual relations are not sinful in themselves." Her worry, his philosophy, were spoken on the heels of a lecture given on Shingon Buddhism at the court in Kyoto. A drinking party is then held. It's great to see that 700 plus years later some things about Japanese culture have never changed: that you can study religion one minute and get irresponsibly drunk the next. That a sense of reverence and frivolity are not mutually exclusive.

This exchange takes place at a moment when Nijo is ready to "renounce the world", to leave the court. She is pregnant; the drinking party takes place with the ex-Emperor and his brother in attendance, a party which her other lover Sanekane has arranged (whom she calls "Snowy Dawn"). In the early hours when everyone has had their fill, she is asked to massage their legs; the ex-Emperor, her former lover, reminds his brother that she is pregnant and shouldn't be asked "to sleep in between them." That's one of the many ambiguous passages Nijo uses in lieu of an exact description of the nature of her lovers. Shortly after that the ex-Emperor passes out. His brother spends the night with her, and the diaries, as ever, are vague about what happened, as well as the issue of willingness and consent. It makes her pleas about wishing to leave the world all the more poignant - she should leave it but she'd rather not.

Her wishes to leave "the troubles of the world" behind begin in earnest several months after her daughter was born and taken away from her. Sanekane ("Snowy Dawn") and his wife's child has died after birth. An arrangement was made, with few, if any, knowing that Nijo and Sanekane have been lovers: Nijo's daughter will be raised by Sanekane's wife instead. "In these circumstances it would have been perverse for me to feel anything but happiness that the child was so fortunate in her life simply because she was now regarded as someone else's child." Moments like these in the tale raise the following questions. Who do spouses really belong to? Who are a child's real parents? These blurring of boundaries about love and possession is what also distinguishes The Tale of Genji.

There is a kind of genius at work here that makes this one of the best tales I've yet read in Japanese literature. Nijo's tale is labeled a "diary" but as critics have pointed out it's more like a proto-novel. But from my reading I don't regard it as a novel because of the levels of intimacy shared, the things left out a novel might have ruined for the need to fill in (by saying specifically who is sleeping with who, for instance). In other words it's too honest to be a novel. And in the tale's final third I was moved in ways novels never do it for me: it felt more like I was reading a great memoir. Toward the end Nijo has finally renounced the world, gives a picture of society outside the court we almost never receive in The Tale of Genji, and through these experiences she reveals important details left out regarding the actions of her younger days. She has taken her vows as a Buddhist, but unlike almost every spiritual memoir you'll come across she is not really sure she made the right decision: this conflict alone sets this tale apart as a treasure.

And we might never have had it. The manuscript has surfaced only within the past century. Japanese themselves have only had access to it post-Second World War. Significantly parts have been cut out, literally, by a sword - the copyist noting this expresses his frustration that it has. So not only is this tale a treasure, but that we have it at all is something of a miracle.

Note on Translation There are two versions of the tale in English that came out almost simultaneously in the early 1970s. I read the Wilfrid Whitehouse and Eizo Yanagisawa version. It's a tough decision on which one to choose. The other version is from Karen Brazell. Her prose shows the prejudice of an American woman in word choice and outlook, but also lends a voice that is more recognizably female. Donald Keene's interpretation in Travelers of a Hundred Ages relies on Brazell's version, reinforcing what is a puritanical take on Nijo's sexual agency. If Brazell worked closely with a Japanese during translation she does not credit him or her. Whitehouse worked closely with a Japanese, Yanagisawa, a poet himself, like Nijo. Their style is more British, a little antiquated in word choice here or there, more stiff, slower, less fluid than Brazell's, which sounds like more of a chore to read but British English almost by definition is much better suited to handling ambiguity than American English - it's not in our nature to be ambiguous, so we have difficulty even recognizing it. I will definitely read the Towazu-gatari again, and when I do it will be the version from Brazell.

Note on Atmosphere The following clip is from the television drama "Atsu-hime" (literally, "A Princess named Atsu") broadcast in 2008. It'll give you the look and feel of what Japanese court life might have been like. Its lead character is around the same age as Nijo through a large part of the tale. Atsu-hime is based on a real-life individual, a young woman from out of the provinces who ended up marrying one of the last shoguns. In the beginning of this scene she is being scolded by her mother-in-law for not fulfilling her duties: mainly for disloyalty and for not bearing the shogun an heir (:53). Atsu-hime fully prostrates herself, promising the mother-in-law full devotion as the shogun's wife (1:54). Following this everyone is shocked to see the shogun going to visit Atsu-hime in the women's quarters (2:30). They have yet to consummate the marriage. Is he gay? Is he slightly mad? Or is he just trying to keep his distance from everyone by acting a little strange? The married couple in their private chamber. He asks Atsu-hime, "If you could be reborn again what would you be?"(4:18) She doesn't know. He says, "I'd like to be something other than a human being." (4:40) "Something other than a human being?" "Yes," he says, "something like a bird where you can go wherever you want," something court life would never allow . "What about you?" he asks. "I would like everything to be exactly the same." (5:10) She has something else to say but she keeps it a secret. This leads to the couple's first tender moment. The acting of young actress Aoi Miyazaki at 5:40 is outstanding in the way she realizes she is the one who has finally broken through the exterior of the shogun.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YME58...

Note on Nijo and Murasaki It was a great joy reading these two classical poets at the same time. Each helped me understand the other poet's world better. Nijo's tale is what Murasaki's would have been had she adopted a straight first-person narrative. The shocking thing about storytelling in The Tale of Genji is that Murasaki employs first-person narrative though you'd never know it - the "I" appears only once every twenty pages or so. The Murasaki of her brief diary, when she isn't taking notes on court ritual, suggests a picture of a very enchanting woman: highly intelligent, guardedly cynical, knows the workings of power through and through, judgmental, intimidating, has strong opinions about all the women around her and their arts - the kind of woman I'd find hard to resist, exactly for the reasons others would keep their distance. A great mystery to me is why Nijo chose to keep the focus on herself and not the power structure that had apparently caused her so much misery. She is often melancholic, but unlike the misery memoirs of today, you don't feel that she's getting her back on people - honesty is more important to her than recovering dignity through fabricated means. Murasaki's intellectual and emotional range is astonishing. Nijo's is too, and with the hours she must have spent copying out sutras that we see her doing toward the end, you feel it strongly, the workings of a determined spirit and personality that wishes to see her dreams through. The individuals of Nijo's court actually modeled themselves on characters from Murasaki's tale, proving that The Tale of Genji may be the one novel in world history on which a government has fashioned itself. Murasaki created her ideal man based on the mores of the court she witnessed. Nijo has created her ideal through herself.

[Ярослава · Rating 5 out of 5]

Японська придворна література 10-13 століття - це космос. Вся ця проза, писана іронічними інтелектуалками для іронічних інтелектуалок, змагання з поетичних експромтів, дуже легке ставлення до сексуальності, писання віршів замість walk of shame, символічна наснаженість простору (те, до гілки якого дерева тобі прив'язали сувій із віршем - має значення), естетизація довкілля - і це все в ті часи, з яких у нас ніяких я-документів нема. Шалено тішуся, коли знаходжу чергову книжечку з того періоду, коротше кажучи.
"Непрохана повість" Нідзьо - це вже не Хейян, а трохи пізніша епоха, імператор уже суто символічний figurehead, а насправді правлять самураї, але ніхто цього при дворі в побуті особливо не помітив. Себто якщо ви, як я, любите Хейян за #естетику й не дуже вникаєте в історичні деталі, то це абсолютно з тієї ж категорії.
Отже, "Непрохана повість" Нідзьо - це автобіографія придворної дами, яка охоплює період від того, як вона в 15 стала коханкою імператора, до її поневірянь як буддійської черниці віком під 50. Охоплює неймовірну кількість шалених історій, від таких, що на голову не налазять і сильно просяться назад у якусь давньогрецьку драму (наприклад, імператор розказує Нідзьо, що її мати була його першою жінкою, і тому Нідзьо він прямо авансом любив і чекав, коли вона виросте - а вона така ну ок, кул сторі, а чо, романтично), до дуже милих (коли вона вже блукає черницею, і всі-всі ландшафти їй нагадують якийсь вірш, і вона так натхненно їздить всякими красивими місцями, прямо як сучасні японські туристи на пенсії з селфі-палками). Паралельно вона заводить якісь стосунки, засновані переважно на сексі і поезії, народжує якихось дітей, які виховуються по якихось інших людях, і пише-пише-пише. (Починається добра половина її стосунків із історій рівня хештегу #янебоюсьсказати, але судячи з того, як швидко це переростає в любов до гроба чи бодай до зустрічі з наступним поетом - це така ж риторична формула, як наскрізь промоклі від сліз рукави й голоси оленів у осінніх горах, якими передають тугу, принаймні хочеться на це сподіватися. Але якщо хтось не хоче цього хештегу в розважальній літературі, то про всяк випадок попереджаю.) Коротше, ніби й невеселе в сухому висліді життя - хоча в кого з нас воно в кінцевому висліді веселе, всі старіємо і все минає - але геть не лишає відчуття безнадії.

[Ángel Agudo · Rating 5 out of 5]

En un punto híbrido entre diario y crónica, la dama Nijō relata su vida a la vez que retrata la corte en el siglo XIII. La autora comienza su historia por su adolescencia, cuando el emperador Go-Fukakusa la toma a la fuerza y la vuelve una de sus queridas. Poco despues de esta unión, su padre fallece y Nijō termina sola y desamparada en mitad de la corte imperial y de la mano de un hombre que no tardará en mostrar lo voluble que es.

Si bien la obra nos llega como: «Confesiones de la Dama Nijō», una traducción literal del titulo en japonés sería: «El relato no solicitado» o «El cuento que nadie pidió», los cuales para mí apuntarían mejor la forma a la que me he acercado a esta obra. Nijō no tiene un objetivo concreto con su diario más allá de formar, tal y como ella dice, «un relato insignificante sobre su existencia».

La obra florece en la «insustancialidad», en su búsqueda de plasmar la vida cortesana tal y como es. Nijō recoge los placeres y las desgracias con honestidad y con una marcada sensibilidad artística. Las veladas que pasa con sus amantes a escondidas del emperador, las celebraciones pomposas de la corte, los retiros espirituales y las plegarias a Buda...Me ha sorprendido lo humano que se ha sentido a veces, aún con la distancia que me separa de su contexto.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm glad to have found another pillow book, much like Sei Shonagon's earlier book entitled... well.... The Pillow Book. Japanese literature, even if I do have to read English translations, is beautiful. The language choices are unusual to Western culture and simply lovely to read about. Attention to details such as clothing color and changes in the weather provide a very clear path of imagery of a complex society. Really, it's very incredible. Therefore, I'm really glad to have found The Confessions of Lady Nijo, since it fits all of the descriptions I've listed.

Unlike any of the other Japanese works I've read, this one is a real soap opera. Notice I said a real soap opera, not a fictitious one (for all of you that might bring up Genji)! Lady Nijo really must have been a conflicted person her entire life surrounded by troubles. What a dramatic change, to be one of the emperor's concubines for years then to become a wandering nun because of mistakes with men in the past. What a hardship, truly! Her emotions are so clearly presented that I feel her sorrow when I read her words, I really feel as if I'm being sucked into her story. And like I felt with Shonagon's work, I feel like I'm really being pulled into her world, transported to another time and place. This is the wonder of pillow books for me.

Since this is such a short work I don't have a lot more to say about it, but really all I can do is praise it. Despite it being such a dramatic work, the wonder of Confessions is that it's all a true account, and written very well at that.

P.S. I went into this thinking it was going to be a Heian-era pillow book and I was mistaken- it's a little later than that. So it is very interesting to read a work which talks about Genji as something that's already become a popular piece of fiction and to see the connections between Heian and medieval Japan. I didn't know a lot about this period, and I think this book has let me have a little peek.

[Alex Pler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adoro la literatura escrita por las mujeres de la antigua corte japonesa, así que sabía que estas Confesiones de la dama Nijô me iban a gustar. Pero no esperaba que tanto, a la altura de las grandes (Sei Shônagon, Murasaki Shikibu, Izumi Shikibu, Dama de Sarashina).

Por momentos el libro parece la contraparte femenina del Genji Monogatari. La protagonista se rebela contra las costumbres claustrofóbicas de su mundo y busca su propio lugar. Una mujer perspicaz, resiliente, talentosa, autosuficiente... ¿A quién no le va a gustar?

Su descripción del trato recibido nos indigna, su retrato de la vida en la corte y sus celebraciones nos deslumbra, y hacia el final del libro hace que contraste aún más con sus peregrinajes humildes por medio Japón, donde entabla amistad con prostitutas y sirvientes.

Como hilo conductor, los amores secretos que marcan de por vida y la voluntad imposible de estar a la altura de lo que esperaba su padre. Y la poesía, siempre la poesía.

"Sigue sembrando las palabras
porque cosecharás
la virtud de la poesía,
que no discrimina a las personas".

"No solo las flores
que no puedo olvidar.
Mi corazón te persigue
pero mis palabras no te alcanzan".

[Valeria · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Ultimamente mi sto appassionando molto ai diari e alle autobiografie di donne appartenute del passato: restituiscono un punto di vista della storia altrimenti sconosciuto.
Il diario di Lady Nijo è un lungo resoconto della sua vita, a partire dalla morte di sua madre in tenerissima età, al decesso di suo padre durante l'adolescenza trascorsa a palazzo, alle molteplici relazioni che intreccia con diversi uomini i cui nomi non vengono mai menzionati.
La vita di Lay Nijo scorre a metà fra la luce delle feste del palazzo (essendo una delle concubine dell'imperatore) e l'oscurità delle passioni adultere che la travolgono. Nonostante l'appartenenza ad una classe sociale privilegiata, le convenzioni sociali impediscono a chiunque di vivere pacificamente l'amore, portando i personaggi a vivere un tormento ineluttabile.
Ciò che cattura davvero della narrazione è proprio l'atmosfera di malinconia che pervade l'esistenza di Lady Nijo, la sensazione di vuoto che l'accompagna e che la spinge verso la ricerca di qualcosa che lei stessa non riesce a comprendere cosa sia.
In conclusione, una delle letture più affascinanti di quest'anno

[Luke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

I will admit, my lack of retention regarding exact scenes and quotes, combined with a lack of learning opportunities in general, hampered my ability to enjoy and/or engage with this. However, I also remember enough of the sense and feel of the overarching narrative of The Tale of Genji to receive this as a rather pale imitation that would have stood better had it not weighed down so much on the past and endlessly recreated the forms and functions of along ago age. Still, that exact action that I critique offers a bevy of treasures for the intrepid scholar, much as the 600+ year gap between first concrete composition and entry into mainstream publication resulted in a most fortuitous revival of this only extant manuscript of an amazingly early autobiography. In addition, I liked Lady Nijō more the further the books of her autobiography progressed, so I was reconciled to her approved mode of behavior by the end of it, especially as there was little, if any drama of her early years at court during the later periods of pilgrimage. Times have changed and all that jazz, but it's still unpleasant to read about girls betrothed at 4 to someone 20 years their senior who was enamored with her mother, not to mention nephews married to their aunts at bridal festivals held for 14 to 15-year-olds of either gender.

Even while I cannot recall any exact quotations and the particulars of TToG's plot have, save for some very striking instances, faded from my mind, the particulars of Nijō 's life and values were all familiar to me due to a sizable amount of interaction with its period and culture. It is unfair to draw such comparisons, but she is no Shōnagon or Shikibu, and oftentimes only the unusual trajectory of her existence from rise to fall infuses her observations and life choices with any sort of vitality or suspense. Her life is very uncomfortable at times, and it was aggravating to read about what is literal stalking and/or sexual assault at the hands of people who are either fully redeemed or pass form officious life to an honorable without any sense of even private recrimination, but such are the days that some would like us to return to. I enjoyed certain events of frivolity the text describes, especially one incident involving a faux whacking war between the genders of the court from which no rank, however esteemed, was spared. I also appreciated the characterizations of nature, excerpts of literature, and even the odd crafted poem at times. However, it just wasn't as rewardingly complex as other autobiographical pieces until the very end of the travels, and beyond the obvious wealth of historical context present here in a century far removed from other classical Japanese biographies by women, I wouldn't recommend this unless the reader really knew what they were doing. I, on the other hand, have made an absolute victim of this work through my comparatively abject ignorance, so if you're already motivated to read this, don't let this lackluster review dissuade you. The past may be a foreign country, but if it's survived for this long to tell itself to the present, we must reverse such half a millennium long chains of fortune, even if we don't quite understand or approve of what is being handed down to us.

I've been jumping around the literary centuries of late, as well as spending a lot of time in the 19th century drawing up more a comprehensive list of contemporaneous women's writing than I have so far seen, and the need to spend effort on readjusting my frame every time I switch books is beginning to wear me out. Still, it really is marvelous that I can access such a rich spread of history through narrative, both ancient and otherwise, and sometimes I need to sit back and remind myself of such. Still, one can't like everything simply because it's old, and Nijō 's priorities in narrative commentary on her progression of existence just didn't engage as much as that of more vaunted names in history have. Ah well. It's still worth delving into far the view it gives on far removed cultural mores and less removed themes of humanity such as mourning, gratefulness, and contemplation on the great cycle and how best to pay it forward. Maudlin thoughts, but if that's too much for you, you may wish to evaluate your reading plans for this a tad: maudlin is Nijō's middle name.

Sow all the words you can
For in a better age
Men shall judge the harvest
By its intrinsic worth.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

"That all my dreams might not prove empty, I have been writing this useless account-though I doubt it will long survive me." pg. 264

How lucky and grateful I feel that her writings did long survive her. All the way from when she composed it in 1307 until it was finally re-discovered in 1940. I am also extremely grateful to Karen Brazell for translating this work into English. Without her efforts, I would never have even known Lady Nijo existed.

In 1307, at around the age of 49 years old, Lady Nijo began writing down a detailed account of her life. We see in this book as she goes all the way back to when she was given to Emperor GoFukakusa by her father and all the way to her current state as a lonely, traveling nun. (Warning for the first 20-ish pages of this book: Lady Nijo, at 14, is given to GoFukakusa, who is 29, as a concubine completely unknowingly and unwillingly. It is very disturbing to read and I definitely had to take a break after reading it.) The first part of the book takes place at court in Heian-kyo and the second part takes place mainly outside the capital as Lady Nijo travels as a nun after being forced out of court.

"Who can accompany me on that final journey through the afterworld? I entered this life alone; I shall leave it alone. People who meet must part; things that are born must die. No matter how beautiful the plum blossoms, in the end they return to the ground." pg 197

This book can be grouped together with the handful of writings that have also survived from other Heian-kyo court ladies - even though Lady Nijo lived a couple hundred years after them. The Pillow Book, The Gossamer Years, Izumi Shikibu Nikki, The Diary of Lady Murasaki, and As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams are all autobiographies from the Heian period of Japan. While Lady Nijo lived in the following Kamakura Period, she was still born into that elite circle of aristocrats who were holding onto the dying court culture that flourished during the Heian period and it lent her strong ties to all those past court ladies. If you have read any of the autobiographies from Heian Japan, you will quickly see the similarities and feel their influence on her writing.

However, there is one thing that makes Lady Nijo's writing stand out from all the others: the honesty and clarity with which she recounts her experiences. Most Heian court ladies are intentionally vague in their writings and will often say things indirectly or provide very minimal explanation for events. Not Lady Nijo. She is so open in her accounts and gives us such an open view into details of her life that were completely shut off from us by the other court ladies hundreds of years earlier. It almost felt like I was able to see even more into the other ladies' lives through Lady Nijo. Her honesty made me feel such an emotional connection to her and feel as if over 700 years and an entirely different culture do not separate us from her.

"I spend my idle nights in solitude. If only I had such a relationship even in the capital. If only I had someone to share my bed, it might help ward off the mountain winds on cold and frosty nights. But there is no such person; no one awaits me, and I pass idle days under the blossoms. In the autumn, when leaves turn, the insect voices, weakening as the frost deepens, reflect my own unhappy fate as I spend night after night in travelers' lodgings." pg. 224

"I had undertaken this solitary journey with only my thoughts and grief in hopes that it would dry my tears. How distressing to have come so far and yet to have the worries of the world still cling to me." pg. 186

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

The world of Lady Nijo (whose real name has not survived), a court lady of late thirteenth century Japan, is not ours. At a very young age, she was offered by her father to one of the retired Emperors (there were three at the time), who had been in love with her mother and admired her from a very young age. The Tale of Genji, written a few centuries before is constantly quoted or memorialized and in Nijo's relationship with Cloistered Emperor GoFukakusa is reminiscent of Genji's obsession with Murasaki. Today we would find such relationships disturbing and illegal; here they seem like the arrested development of men in a world that enjoyed wealth and devotion but no real power, and therefore dedicated itself to entertainment, sensation and affairs. In the era of the cloistered emperors, the adult monarchs abdicated in favor of their younger siblings and children. In Nijo's, GoFukakusa's father and brother were also cloistered emperors and his son, still a child, was Emperor. But real power was exercised by a separate government, the Bakufu. The imperial court (at least GoFukakusa's) was full of protestations of love, following by exchanges of poetry, most of it sad, with references to sleeves wet with tears and smoke blowing in a different direction. And GoFukakusa told Nijo repeatedly that he loved her greatly, but not in any way that we would recognize. When a Buddhist monk arrived at the bedroom where the GoFukakusa and Nijo to profess his love for her, the Retired Emperor encouraged her to go off with him. GoFukakusa also made her a go between, arranging trysts and commenting with her on the sadness of what trasnpired afterward. As for Nijo, writing years later as a nun exiled from the court, she remains fixated on gifts and clothes -- she seems to remember what almost everyone wore, and whether it was stylish enough. She gave birth to several children--GoFukakusa's son died as an infant--but we mostly hear about the maternity sash she was given at five months of pregnancy. The nun who set these memoirs down is somewhat more sympathetic than the young court lady she remembers, traveling among shrines and regretting her youth, but even in penance she seems not to have come far from the lady who stormed away from court because of seating arrangements, or who could make arrangements with the monk for an assignation in the earshot of her beloved GoFukakusa. This is not the credo of a nun who has renounced the world; it seems more like the recollections of a woman whose world has renounced her.

[Smiley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some years ago, when I started my plan of reading Japanese short stories, fiction, history, memoirs, etc. due to my lingering interest and wonder on anything Japanese before and our trips to Japan which generously allowed me to see, observe and admire Japan, Japanese people, infrastructure, transports, services, etc. during our weekly stays and visits to Tokyo, Osaka, Nara, Kyoto, Kamakura, Hokkaido, Fukuoka, Nagoya, Nikko, etc. I simply couldn't help admiring the people, the rice fields, the forests, the hills (especially, Koyasan), the rivers and canals, the flowers, the fishes in the streams, the highways, the railway stations, the Shinkansen, etc. Definitely, Japanese culture and history has long dictated what I viewed in awe and amazement since Japan, in my mind, is second to none as one of the most advanced nations in the world.

That made me read two of the great writings in the Heian era, that is, Sei Shonagon's The Pillow Book (Penguin Books, 2006) and As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams (Penguin Books, 1975). Moreover, along my search in the Wikipedia and other books, I first read/heard the title of this memoir written around three centuries later in late thirteenth century and again I longed to read it but I simply couldn't find it anywhere, I tried by going shopping in some large bookstores but it was rare for it was not a popular book like contemporary chick-lit or manga ones. Fortunately, around the middle of last July, I came across this copy at the DASA Book Café so it's my delight to have it, a fine translation by Karen Brazell. As for her life and fame, you can visit this site for a quick look: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Nijō

I'd like to say something more on its outline and some interesting extracts worth reading and pondering so that readers keen on anything Japanese would be eager to read her as one of the three amazing literate court ladies who left their writings to posterity to have some glimpses of her nostalgic thoughts, court services, daily chores, boredom management, etc. in Heian Japan as introduced by Ms Brazell "in about 1307 a remarkable woman in Japan sat down to complete the story of her life." (p. vii) The result has since been impressive in the literary world as the pioneering inception of Books One-Five, dating from 1271-1306; each Book covering the following years, that is, One 1271-74, Two 1275-77, Three 1281-85, Four 1289-93, and Five 1302-6. Before reading the real thing, after the 21-page introduction, readers would be informed by two+ pages of major characters. (pp. xxix-xxxi)

Her first grief (1273-1274)

It was at this time that I learned of the illness of the son I had borne to GoFukakusa last year, who was now being raised quietly by Takaaki. Hardly did I have time to ponder the evil consequences that might flow from my misconduct when I heard, on the eighth day of the tenth month, that my son had died, vanishing like a raindrop after a winter rain. I had tried to prepare myself for this, but its swiftness left me grief-stricken. . . . (p. 51)

Her only view of Fujisan (1289)

. . . Next I reached the Ukishima Plain at the base of Mount Fuji, which someone once compared in the fifth month to a dappled fawn. Now the metaphor seemed apt, judging from the apparent depth of the snow on that high peak, as deep, it seemed, as the layers of worry covering this transient self of mine. No smoke arose from Mount Fuji now, and I wonder what the poet Saigyo had seen yielding to the wind. . . . (p. 184)

Her reflection on her life (1289-90)

I persisted in dwelling on the past. I could not recall my mother's face, for she had died when I was only two. When I turned four I was taken, toward the end of the ninth month, to the palace of the Retired Emperor GoFukakusa. . . . During the years that I was well received at the palace I cherished the secret dream of becoming the pride and joy of my clan. Such expectations did not seem unreasonable, yet I decided to give up everything and enter the path of renunciation. . . . I thought I had renounced all such worldly attachments, but I still found myself longing for the palace of my youth and recalling His Majesty's great kindness. Reminded of these things, my only solace was to weep until tears darkened my sleeves. (p. 196)

To continue . . .

[Velislava Bazelkova · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Нечакана повест" - нечакан подарък за читателското ми сърце.

[Yolanda Morros · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nijō, una dama de honor de la corte imperial, nos cuenta los sucesos que vivió entre 1271 y 1306. Es una de las obras más destacadas de lo que se llama literatura de las damas de honor del viejo Japón.
Muy interesante!

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm sort of stunned by how readable and recognizable as a memoir/travelogue this is, seeing as it's from the 14th century. The main character, Lady Nijo led a fascinating life. Born into life as high-ranking court lady, she later becomes a wandering Buddhist nun and travels all over Japan.

My one regret is that I really should have read Tale of Genji before reading this book, as there were continual allusions throughout that I found difficult to understand the resonance of, even with footnotes. Otherwise, I found this memoir to be a fascinating portrait of life extremely far away in time and place. My favorite character is probably one of her lovers, the priest Ariake, who I think weeps in every scene he appears in (haha!).

All in all, I'm just sort of stunned by how historically precious this book is. I'd really like to read more firsthand accounts of women's lives from centuries ago and from different cultures/countries, but it doesn't seem there are many out there as prominent or well-preserved as this one. As this was a unique reading experience, I'll surely be on the lookout for more historical memoirs by women in the future.

[Rebecca O'Sullivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lady Nijo's account of her life provides an interesting glimpse of Japanese imperial court life during the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333), as well as the life of a court lady who takes religious vows. Although the title is typically translated as 'Confessions of Lady Nijo', Whitehouse and Yanagisawa avoid this, as, they say, Towazugatari actually translates as 'an unsolicited tale', and Lady Nijo makes no suggestion that she feels she is 'confessing', which I quite liked.

This translation is enjoyable. For some reason, though, the language feels quite modern: overall the sense of the imperial court I took from this translation feels far more informal than in translations of other Japanese tales (e.g. Meredith McKinney's translation of the Pillow Book).

[Richard R]

Japanese noblewomen like Lady Nijo were often highly literate but had little formal responsibilities or duties, hence having both the means and time to write about their surroundings, which is essentially the sort of pre-requisite for writing that Woolf wrote about in A Room of One's Own.

Much of the text is concerned with Nijo's sexual relationships with both the Emperor and various lovers. Buddhism is rather less puritanical than Christianity on these matters: pregnancies are quietly dealt with through adoption rather than being a great cause of scandal. Nonetheless, Nijo is very aware of karmic principles and spends time considering whether her behaviour was sinful or not. It should particularly be pointed out that Nijo had limited agency over this, given the powerful men she's surrounded by: for example, the first sexual encounter described in the memoirs is non-consensual and occurs when she's only 14.

If you look at a lot of writings by medieval women in Europe, then religion was often a way of gaining greater autonomy and that also follows here: Nijo encounters a former concubine who later becomes a Buddhist nun and eventually follows in her footsteps after being expelled from the court. It's noticeable that her pilgrimages are one of the first times when she's able to act independently rather than being constrained by court ritual and male privilege.

[Braaaaais · Rating 5 out of 5]

De los diarios más interesantes de la literatura clásica japonesa, sobre todo porque es el que más insiste en la relación entre la vida cortesana y la literatura hasta el punto de convertirlas en entidades indistinguibles. Personajes históricos se convierten en personajes literarios y la propia Dama Nijo convierte su vida en un tropo literario; compara sus penas con las del Príncipe Genji, con las de la niña Murasaki e incluso interpreta a la dama de Akashi en una obra. Llega un punto en que su vida es indistinguible de la poesía y llega a inventar sucesos que de seguro no sucedieron, si nos atenemos a las incongruencias históricas de los mismos, con tal de describir una situación propia de la tradición literaria de tu tiempo. Resulta difícil determinar si en el diario hay un mayor deseo y erotismo hacia Aritake y Akebono, los amantes de Nijo, o hacia el príncipe Genji y la poesía de Murasaki, del Manyoshu, del Kokinshu...

[Elizabeth Reuter · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always fascinating to see how another culture handles events that seem clear to me. "Confessions" opens with Lady Nijo's rape by Japan's emperor; in response to her trauma, everyone yells at *her* for her "ingratitude." Yuck. -_-

Yet Nijo grows into an unusually free-spirited woman; for the lives of most noblewomen, see "The Gossamer Years" (written a few centuries before, but little had changed at court). It involved sitting in one room and trying not to show how jealous you were as your husband cheated. Nijo, however, had multiple affairs of her own and was always up to something. Later in her life she wandered the world, rather than retiring from it in a nun's cell as a "good lady" would have done.

She tortures herself for this free-spiritedness, I think because of the social censure that resulted from it (also, it was fashionable in her day to agonize over life's difficulties), but she keeps going. I admired her, and I loved reading about a time long gone.

-Elizabeth Reuter
Author, The Demon of Renaissance Drive

[Coff(in)ee Lover · Rating 5 out of 5]

ლამაზი დამთხვევაა, ნიძიოს მუდამ ცრემლებით დამბალი სახელოების ამბავი,ამ წვიმაში რომ წავიკითხე. ბოლო სიტყვებმა გული მომიკლა,მაგრამ უფრო ჩემიანად მაგრძნობინა იგი თავისი ამ აზრით. ნიძიოსავით აღთქმა დავდე: აუცილებლად წავალ იაპონიაში და რამდენიმე წელი მოგზაურ-მოხეტიალე ვიქნები.მართალია ისეთი კეთილი და მომთმენი არ ვარ,რომ ბუდისტი ვიყო,მაგრამ მაინც ყველაზე ახლოსაა ეს რელიგია ჩემთან.(ან მინდა,რომ იყოს) 🌸🌸🌸

[sanaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I have read on human emotion and condition. I am so deeply moved by the Japanese sensuality of it and I have even really cried over the fate of its heroes though I thought it was impossible for me to get so emotional over a love story again. A must read for who follows female voices in literature too!

[Orinoco Womble (tidy bag and all) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have wanted to read this book for a long time!
Written several centuries later than The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, the first section reflects that author's style when writing of court life. However, the lives of these two noblewomen could hardly be more different.

Sei Shonagon went to court as a young woman and was married and had two or three children, though spouse and family get no mention in her writings. Lady Nijo, however, was taken to court at the tender age of three after her mother's death. Her grandfather and father were both ministers at court, and the ex-emperor at that time promised to "assume complete care of her." This care apparently included raping her when she was only 14 "because he had loved her since she was a child." I call it rape as it was not consensual; he (a grown man in his thirties) came into her bedchamber and pressured her to have sex with him, while she wept and pleaded with him to leave her alone. Her own father tells her not to fuss, as the ex-emperor will be able to help her get on in life. Apparently it didn't occur to her father, courtier of noble lineage that he was, to find a real husband for his only child. What a good parent.

Later, another "lover" forces her to have sex with him when she is pregnant with said ex-emperor's child. She is naturally afraid for her unborn baby, but somehow convinces herself that this rape is somehow a "love encounter"--though first she speaks of her "happy dreams", she then writes that she "lay in bed and wept until noon" the next day, "because her lot was not going to be a happy one."

It certainly wasn't. She had four children by the ex-emperor, his brother and another courtier, but they were all taken away from her to be given to other noble families. She never saw them again. Never mind that she herself was of noble lineage, she was a young woman and alone in the world, particularly after her father's death; though she speaks of being related by blood to many court nobles, they apparently ignored her existence completely. She got used to being a sort of lower concubine, used and abused by men in power; at one point she connives to help the ex-emperor have sex with a supposed "vestal virgin" of the Ise shrine, and thinks nothing of it. Said ex-emperor remarks: "The cherry blossom is beautiful, but the branch is easy to break and the blossom easy to pluck." So basically, yeah, she was easy, she had it coming. What a refined nobleman.

This may indeed be Nijo's actual diary, but it reflects the style of Heian romantic novels such as The Tale of Genji and others, filled with detailed conversations, romantic meditations and weeping while looking at the moon, and poems, both her own and those written by others. I was intrigued by the notes from the 17th century copyist deploring the fact that two sections had been cut away with a knife, while another was cut off with a sword! I wondered what she wrote that was so inflammatory (compared to the rest of the imperial antics) that it would be chopped out with a weapon!

Finally in her late twenties she sickens of her life at court (knowing no one is really looking out for her), and after the ex-emperor tires of her and hands her off to his brother to use, she becomes a Buddhist nun and travels from shrine to shrine, weeping for her lost youth and divided between the desire to return to court and her knowledge that court life wasn't all that great (at least for her). Apparently as a nun she didn't even have the security of belonging to one particular convent. She ends up being so poor she has to sell her last family keepsakes (her mother's makeup case and her father's writing case) to make ends meet. Oh sure, she says it's to buy paper and ink to copy the sutras--but she also mentions going hungry and sleeping under the stars, so...

Sadly, though there are footnotes to the Kindle edition, tapping on them does precisely nothing; you have to wait until you reach the end of each chapter to read them and there's no context phrase to help you remember what it was about.
I had to wonder why the translator chose to use the ridiculous western term "Generalissimo" for the position of Shogun? Most readers interested enough to read this book will have an idea of what a Shogun is, why drag a Spanish barbarism into it? (I'm a Spanish translator myself, and the word is misused for a Shogun anyway). Why did he use words like "lute" and "harp" for well-known Japanese instruments such as the biwa and shamisen or koto? And what kind of colour is "reddish blue", exactly? Red violet, perhaps, but not "reddish blue."
4.5 stars. How I would love to see a translation of this book by Meredith McKinney.

[Rosamund Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lady Nijo's story begins when her father gives her to the retired emperor GoFukakusa as his concubine. Lady Nijo's mother died when she was two, and she was raised at court, knowing GoFukakusa all her life. Lady Nijo doesn't describe her experiences with GoFukakusa as rape, but she describes being taken unwillingly to the palace, and weeping and being unable to speak for days. She spends the majority of her time at the palace with GoFukakusa and the other courtiers and his other concubines. She is a person of high rank and accomplishment: she writes poetry, plays instruments, and paints. She is constantly besieged by men: men at court approach her all the time, and she has many affairs and has several children by different men. She is attached to these men, and becomes attached to GoFukakusa, but I couldn't stop thinking about how much pressure she was under, and how men constantly demanded her affection and attention. She longs to live a secluded life, and it's no surprise that becoming a nun offers freedom and solace to her. Her life is an unhappy one, but it's an amazing account: full of details of court life and of life as a travelling nun, as well as details of poetry, art and Buddhist thought. I found this book moving and sad, and I'm glad it survives.

[Sephreadstoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Diario di una concubina imperiale" (o "Towazugatari", letteralmente "confessione spontanea") è la serie di cinque diari dell'amante dell'imperatore Go Fukakusa (1246 -1260), Nijō.
Colta e cresciuta fin da piccola alla corte imperiale di Kyoto, Nijō racconta il mondo di cristallo della corte fino a quando non fu esiliata dall'Imperatrice Higashi-nijō, le sue tribolazioni e i suoi pellegrinaggi quando prese i voti.
Nijō ci ha lasciato una pregevole testimonianza della vita a Palazzo, incluso il ritratto umano di un Imperatore, non tacque sui suoi altri amanti, che riporta nel testo tramite alias, e non fece mistero delle coercizioni che subì.
Le note a cura di Lydia Origlia completano questa bellissima edizione, dando importanti spiegazioni sui costumi dell'epoca.

[Mari Ghviniashvili · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm once again happy to be born in 21st century💀women in the old times were so miserable, lady nijo didn't deserve all the misfortunes that she had (and, lets be clear, her every trouble was men's fault).

apart from that, i read translated version (had a feeling that the book was double translated - from russian, to be exact), so i believe so many beautiful and remarkable details were lost in translation.

[Jelena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Этой книге необходимо дать высшую оценку, просто потому что она существует.

Япония, 13-ый век, Нидзё придворная дама и наложница императора, позже принявшая монашество, рассказывает о прожитой жизни.

Несмртря на возраст этой книги, читается она легко, даже теми, кто Японией до этого ее интересовался (как я).

[Madison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look into court life from this period. Lady Nijō and her writing are definitely going to stick with me. I am weak to authors who make comments like “I hope my works can at least outlive me” and Nijō for sure wanted her works to be remembered if not for her then for everyone else in her life. I throughly enjoyed this genuinely very intimate glimpse into a woman’s life from centuries ago.

[Moni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Historia muy fácil de leer y bonita.

Muy dura leída desde occidente y en el presente.

[M · Rating 3 out of 5]

Este tipo de libros me gustan pero siempre acabo saturada con los poemas y las descripciones redundantes. si hubiera sido más cortito hubiera estado genial pero igualmente me mola ⭐️

[Alyssa Russek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this for McNally Jackson Bookclub

We will discuss audience - was this a work intended to be read? To what extent is the author performing for an imagined future readership? Is that a wink at us buried in a book from decades ago? We will discuss self-knowledge - do we trust the account as given? What are they hiding from us? Have they completely lost the plot of their life and the lives around them? And of course, we will discuss what thrills - cameos from notables? Salacious asides? That single sentence from 1935 which you still hear ringing in your ears, weeks after reading it?


Before starting my review I want to answer the above items and bring up something that stood out to me. In the introduction it is brought up that historians will occasionally argue over whether or not this is a true diary or if this is a work of fiction.
Ten toes down, I believe this to be a nonfiction account of Lady Nijo's life, or rather, small accounts from parts of her life.

I don't know why she took it upon herself to note her daily life and part of her private accounts. I do believe that she intended it to be read though. She writes in a beautifully lush descriptive pen, telling you the landscapes, the outfits, the paths she walked. I get the feeling that she wrote this to be either a religious offering, or even as a historical document for future members of the court.

This book was kind of hard to read as a modern day woman. Only in the end did I feel that Lady Nijo's life was in her own hands. From the start of her life she lived based off of where others placed her.
At the age of two her mother died, from there the emperor Go-Fukakusa brings her into his court. When she gets older she will become a lesser-concubine of his. Throughout the entire book she never once looks at him with a foul eye. She is also appreciative of him in a way of a child looking at a parent, but simultaneously as a lover looks at their heart.
To the modern eye Go-Fukakusa is not entirely kind to her. He seems to use her as a pawn at points or even discard her when he is trying to please another woman. Through the writings of Lady Nijo, he is always her savior. No second thought needed, this man is who her life was fated to be based upon.
This brought me to the thought, Can it be said any woman's life was her own? Or did they all live off of fate, and the whim of man?

While Lady Nijo is almost always kind to Go-Fukakusa, the same can not be said to her treatment of herself. She has two major affairs outside of her relationship with Go-Fukakusa. I read her notations as being shamed of herself for human feelings. Even when it felt she was pushed into these affairs she blamed herself for the religious aspect of them. This returns me to my above thoughts, she seemed to think less of herself due to her station as a lesser-concubine and higher of any man in her life. Yes, the men were higher in the court system than her, but it hurt all the same. I wanted to reach in and hold her and say, this isn't your fault, too many times. While her writing was mature and well put together, for most of the early books she truly was just a child.

Lady Nijo herself has multiple children which are all recorded, and all of them are usually in the pages for just blips of a moment. It is possible some where still born, or miscarried, but we know some had made it to later childhood. As a mother I thought to myself, why does she not write more on this? All of her children were taken away, what happened? Did she forget? And later on we learn that was not true, she thought almost all the time of these children, she simply did not record it within these pages. With the second appearance of her first child, a daughter, being such a short paragraph, I thought to myself this must not be a personal diary. With her large pages dedicated to court events you would expect the same for such a momentous account, but it was almost a turn of the page before the encounter was over.

From that specific moment is where I began to believe this was a historical account and not a personal one. There are meetings not written, and characters who are lost but referenced as if they were elsewhere. She even writes of one thing that she has recorded it somewhere else so she would not record it again.

Even with believing this is not a fully personal account you feel as if you begin to know Lady Nijo as friends would know one another. She was an extraordinary writer, and knowing as we do from the offset that parts of her accounts were lost to time or purposefully removed, breaks your heart. What was taken away from us? What knowledge of the past was removed?
"The page has been cut with a blade at this point. If only we had known what was written below."

At the end of her life Lady Nijo seems to be able to choose her own path. She is a Buddhist nun travelling from shrine to shrine. We don't know exactly why she left court, years from the account have been lost. She seems to be renewed in life, a spark that was small is now burning bright. A happiness seems to be simmering below as thoughts of sadness come out for that and those she has lost. Even as a nun travelling from shrine to shrine, she devotes her prayers and thoughts to Go-Fukakusa. Maybe he was correct, maybe their souls were tied together by fate. She truly believes this, and even with a harsh modern eye, their love for each other is certainly one of the ages.

All my ramblings and thoughts aside, it is obvious to any reader (contemporary to our time, historical, or even future ones) Lady Nijo is a poet of her age. The poems she records are breath taking. How this was lost to time befuddles me, would they not want to celebrate her works? What other works of hers are recorded elsewhere? Have we encountered her before and her name was lost to anonymity?

Well, if you made it this far through my "review" which are really just my meandering thoughts, thank you.

If you want a tl;dr:

I believe Lady Nijo was a real woman of her time, and a poet for the ages. As a contemporary woman it was hard to see how much of her life depended on the men around her, but to her it was simply as life was meant to be. This book was written to be read, and if you have any interest in Japanese history, women's history, or the foundation of poetry, this is something you should pick up. Even with the missing moments of time this book has filled something in me I didn't know I desired.

One of the last lines will remain tattoed on my heart, "...and it is from a desire not to let this impulse count for nothing that I have written this foolish tale of mine. I have no hope that it will remain for future generations to remember me by." Lady Nijo, I am so happy to say she will never be forgotten.
The title is, A Tale Unasked, but it should also be A Tale We Needed.

Read outside, somewhere you feel as if you can feel your religion touching you with the sun. Read in spring with a nice cup of hot tea. No snacks necessary as this story will keep you full.

[Вікторія Слінявчук · Rating 3 out of 5]

Мемуари японки XIII століття.Книжка починається з того, що батько віддає Ніджьо в наложниці колишньому імператорові Ґо Фукакусі. Їй щойно виповнилося 14 - але це за японським рахунком, коли дитина при народженні вважається 1-річною і всім в перший день нового року додається +1 рік. Насправді їй між 12 і 13. Ґо Фукакуса старший років на 15 і накинув оком на дівчинку вже давно. Її покійна мати колись була його першою коханкою, потім вийшла заміж, народила Ніджьо і невдовзі померла, дівчинка росла при його дворі, він її на колінці гойдав, і от вирішив взяти її собі в наложниці, коли підросте - отака своєрідна "сентиментальність". Зараз би сказали - педофільский "грумінг"... Згоди Ніджьо ніхто не питає, імператор просто приходить до її спальні, першу ніч переночував, навіть її не торкаючись, але хто вже в це повірить, для неї нема шляху назад. Ну а на наступну ніч вже й трахнув. Це страшенно нагадує історію з Мурасакі в "Повісті про Ґенджі" - недарма, при імператорському дворі активно косплеїли цей культовий твір попередньої доби.
До речі, чому імператор колишній? А це вже доба шьоґунату, імператори стають дедалі більш маріонетковими фігурами, а справжня влада концентрується в руках військового уряду, імператором призначають якогось хлопчика з імператорської родини, коли він підростає, його змушують зректися і ставлять замість нього іншу дитину - щоб навіть не намагалася якусь реальну владу забрати в свої руки. Насправді великих переваг від того, щоб бути наложницею імператора нема, це не приносить багатства, а статус сумнівний, тим більше, коли навіть імператор - фігура символічна, що таке його наложниця? Ну, однак, кращого способу влаштувати долю доньки батько Ніджьо не вигадав. При тому, вона каже, що батько дуже її любив і дбав про неї. Егеж...
Звісно, у імператора вже давно є офіційна дружина, і вона Ніджьо незлюбила. Батько помирає, коли Ніджьо вагітна першою дитиною. Ця дитина проживе недовго, і смерть імператорського сина ставить хрест на всій подальшій "кар'єрі" Ніджьо, адже найкраще, на що можна було сподіватись - що її син колись стане імператором. Цю дитину вона не виховувала, хлопчика одразу в неї забрали і віддали на виховання дядьку (досить звичайна практика в арістократичних родинах, і не тільки в Японії). У Ніджьо буде четверо дітей, і з усіма ними їй доведеться розлучитися або одразу після народження, або невдовзі. "Пікантність" в тому, що всі інші її діти - не від імператора (про що він чудово здогадувався). Ще під час першої вагітності у неї починаються любовні стосунки з паном Санекане - в нього вона була дійсно закохана. Другу дитину, дівчинку, Ніджьо народила від нього. Офіційно вона заявила, що пологи були передчасними і дитина померла, насправді справжній батько забрав її і віддав кудись на виховання, а згодом вдочерив її разом зі своєю дружиною. Ще двох дітей Ніджьо народила від брата Ґо Фукакуси, який був буддистським ченцем і настоятелем - гріховність цих стосунків мучила Ніджьо ще довго. А почалися вони фактично зі згвалтування, принаймні описано саме так (хоча це може бути таке собі виправдання, типу "я не хотіла"), втім, потім вона пише, що кохала його. Але вона і про Ґо Фукакусу так згодом писала. Цих двох дітей також довелось кудись віддати, з другим вона хіба що побула кілька місяців. Отже, народивши чотирьох дітей, Ніджьо в кінці книжки каже, що вона бездітна. Ну, фактично так і є - жодна дитина не з нею, жодна не вважає її матір'ю, офіційно ніяких дітей у неї нема. З іншого джерела відомо, що Ніджьо могла пізніше зустрітися зі своєю донькою від Санекане, коли та переїжджала до палацу (її теж за якогось чергового імператора віддали), а про долю двох молодших вона геть нічого не знає, навіть чи живі вони.
Взагалі коханців у Ніджьо було чимало, добровільність цих зв'язків (крім Санекане) дуже сумнівна, інколи імператор сам її підкладав під когось, як от він наказав їй переспати з паном Коное, який до неї домагався, а вона його не хотіла. Схоже, Ґо Фукакуса отримував від цього якесь збочене задоволення. Ніджьо також доводилось приводити до імператора інших жінок. Серед іншого, Ґо Фукакуса злягався зі своєю єдинокровною сестрою, яка була синтоїстською жрицею і мусила дотримуватись целібату. Отакі нрави, мда.
Врешті-решт дружина Ґо Фукакуси прогнала Ніджьо з імператорського двору. За непристойну поведінку. Після цього Ніджьо стає буддистською черницею. Насправді це полегшення для неї. Ніяких більше дітей, ніяких залицяльників. Вона багато подорожує, відвідує різні святі місця, переписує сутри (це релігійна практика), бере участь в поетичних конкурсах. Багатства, як вже сказано, вона не надбала - на повсякденні потреби їй загалом вистачає, а от щоб виконати свої обітниці, замовити поминальні служби для близьких чи переписати ті самі сутри (папір - предмет розкоші), їй доводиться продавати цінні речі, які залишились як пам'ятка від батьків.
Ще така рисочка - коли помер Ґо Фукакуса і вона прийшла попрощатися, її навіть не допустили до гробу. Не заслужила такої честі. Хоча за життя колишній імператор з нею час від часу зустрічався і дружньо спілкувався, навіть коли обоє вже були ченцями.
Рукопис місцями пошкоджений ще в давні часи, деякі фрагменти вирізані, можливо, там містилася якась інформація, що могла скомпрометувати скомпрометувати когось, хто мав доступ до рукопису.