Front of the Card
Back of the Card
Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox
大弐三位
ありま山
猪名の笹原
風吹けば
いでそよ人を
忘れやはする
いてそよひ
とをわすれ
やはする
ありま
- Poem 58
- ありま山
猪名の笹原
風吹けば
いでそよ人を 忘れやはする
Author: Daini no Sanmi (c. 999–c. 1082)
Source: Go Shūi Wakashū, Love
- English Verse Translation
- As fickle as the mountain gusts That on the moor I've met, 'Twere best to think no more of
thee, And let thee go. But yet I never can forget.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- When the wind blows through the bamboo groves of Arima and Ina — of course I have not forgotten you.
- Commentary
- A man who had not written for a long time sent her a letter asking whether her feelings had changed. This poem was her reply.
- About the Poet
- Daini no Sanmi (Katako) was Murasaki Shikibu's daughter and, like her mother, served Empress Akiko. She later became nurse to the future Emperor Go-Reizei, and after he took the throne she rose to Junior Third Rank (sanmi). "Daini" comes from the post of her second husband, Takashina no Nariakira, at Dazaifu.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).
- Daini no Sanmi: A Short Timeline
-
- c. 999
- Born as the daughter of Fujiwara no Nobutaka and Murasaki Shikibu
- 1001
- Her father Nobutaka dies
- c. 1017
- Follows her mother in serving Empress Akiko
- Before 1025
- First marries Fujiwara no Kanetaka, second son of Fujiwara no Michikane
- 1025
- Becomes nurse to Prince Chikahito (later Emperor Go-Reizei)
- c. 1037
- Marries again, to Takashina no Nariakira
- 1045
- When Emperor Go-Reizei takes the throne, becomes a senior palace lady (Naishi no Suke)
- 1054
- Given Junior Third Rank
- 1078
- Takes part in the Palace Poetry Contest of the 2nd year of Jōryaku
- c. 1082
- Dies
- Daini no Sanmi's Family Tree
-
Like her mother, Murasaki Shikibu, Daini no Sanmi served Akiko, the empress of Emperor Ichijō.
She is known to have had relationships with Fujiwara no Yorimune, a son of Fujiwara no Michinaga; Fujiwara no Sadayori, a son of Fujiwara no Kintō; Minamoto no Tomotō; and others. Later she married Fujiwara no Kanetaka, a son of Michinaga's elder brother Fujiwara no Michikane, and had a daughter.
This birth became a turning point: when Akiko's grandson, Prince Chikahito (later Emperor Go-Reizei), was born, she was chosen as his nurse (menoto). When Emperor Go-Reizei took the throne, Daini no Sanmi was made a senior lady of the Palace Attendants' Office (naishi no suke) and was later given Junior Third Rank.
Daini no Sanmi later married Takashina no Nariakira and had a son, Takashina no Tameie, and a daughter. In 1054, her husband Nariakira was made Senior Assistant Governor-General of Dazaifu (Dazai no Daini). The name "Daini no Sanmi" combines her husband's post, "Daini," and her own rank, "Sanmi" (Third Rank).
In her later years she outlived her husband; records such as her taking part in poetry contests suggest that she lived to about 80.
- Appendix
-
- Daini no Sanmi's Poem to Fujiwara no Yorimune
- The headnote in the Go Shūi Wakashū says it was "sent to the Horikawa Minister of the Right."
Daini no Sanmi sent this poem to Fujiwara no Yorimune, a son of Fujiwara no Michinaga.In Japanese
恋しさの 憂きにまぎるる ものならば
またふたたびと 君を見ましや koishisano ukinimagiruru mononaraba
matafutatabito kimiomimashiya Go Shūi Wakashū, Daini no SanmiIn English
If my longing for you could be forgotten among the troubles of daily life, would I want to see you again? (No, it cannot be forgotten, so I want to see you.)
- Poems Exchanged with Fujiwara no Sadayori
- The next poems were exchanged between Fujiwara no Sadayori and Daini no Sanmi.
- Fujiwara no Sadayori's Poem
-
Because he could hardly ever meet Daini no Sanmi, Sadayori wrote a poem saying that he looks at plum blossoms instead, thinking of them as her.
He sent the poem to her with a branch of plum blossoms.In Japanese
見ぬ人に よそへて見つる 梅の花
散りなむ後の なぐさめぞなき minuhitoni yosohetemitsuru umenohana
chirinamuatono nagusamezonaki Shin Kokin Wakashū, Fujiwara no SadayoriIn English
I have been looking at these plum blossoms, thinking of you, whom I cannot meet. Once they fall, nothing will be left to comfort me.
- Daini no Sanmi's Poem
-
Daini no Sanmi answered by comparing Sadayori to the plum branch.
She teases the fickle Sadayori, saying the branch carries the scent of another woman.In Japanese
春ごとに 心をしむる 花の枝に
たがなほざりの 袖かふれつる harugotoni kokorooshimuru hananoeni
taganahozarino sodekafuretsuru Shin Kokin Wakashū, Daini no SanmiIn English
Every spring this flowering branch has filled my heart. Whose careless sleeve has brushed against it and left its scent?
- A Poem from the Man'yōshū
- Poems about Inano and Mount Arima go back to the time of the Man'yōshū.
In Japanese
しなが鳥 猪名野を来れば 有馬山
夕霧立ちぬ 宿りはなくて shinagadori inanookureba arimayama
yuugiritachinu yadorihanakute Man'yōshū, AnonymousIn English
As I came across Inano, where the shinagadori birds fly,
the evening fog rose over Mount Arima,
and there is no place to stay. - Rozan-ji Temple (Stones Carved with the Poems of Daini no Sanmi and Murasaki Shikibu)
-
Rozan-ji in Kamigyō Ward, Kyoto, is known as a place connected with Daini no Sanmi. The mansion of her great-great-grandfather (four generations back), Fujiwara no Kanesuke, once stood in this area, and like her mother, Murasaki Shikibu, she was born and raised here.
The grounds have stones carved with the poems of Daini no Sanmi and Murasaki Shikibu, as well as a beautiful dry landscape garden of white sand and moss, the "Genji Garden." In summer, when they are at their best, lovely purple bellflowers (kikyō), which match the image of Murasaki Shikibu, color the garden.
(Photo taken August 8, 2026)
Timeline of Daini no Sanmi
(Click to open or close.)Daini no Sanmi (Fujiwara no Katako) is born
She was born to her mother, Murasaki Shikibu, and her father, Fujiwara no Nobutaka.
Her father, Fujiwara no Nobutaka, dies
Her mother, Murasaki Shikibu, dies
Begins serving Akiko, Emperor Ichijō's empress
Like her mother, Murasaki Shikibu, she began serving as a lady-in-waiting to Akiko (Jōtōmon-in), Emperor Ichijō's empress.
She married Kanetaka, the second son of Kampaku Fujiwara no Michikane, and had a daughter.Becomes nurse to Prince Chikahito
She was chosen as nurse to Prince Chikahito, who later became Emperor Go-Reizei.
Marries Takashina no Nariakira
Takashina no Tameie is born
She had a son, Takashina no Tameie, with her husband Takashina no Nariakira.
Made naishi no suke
When Emperor Go-Reizei took the throne, Daini no Sanmi, who had been his nurse, was made naishi no suke, the highest post for court ladies.
Her husband, Takashina no Nariakira,
becomes Senior Assistant Governor-General of DazaifuIn the same year, Daini no Sanmi was also given Junior Third Rank.
The year after he went to Dazaifu, Takashina no Nariakira was given Junior Third Rank.
The name "Daini no Sanmi" is thought to have come into use around this time.
Her husband, Takashina no Nariakira, dies
Takashina no Nariakira died at his post in Dazaifu at 69.
Akiko (Jōtōmon-in) dies
Daini no Sanmi dies
She lived a long life.
