伊勢大輔いせのたいふ

いにしへえの
奈良ならの都みやこの
八重桜やえざくら
けふきょう九重ここのえに
匂におひいぬるかな

けふここの
へににほひ
ぬるかな

いに

Poem 61: いにしへえの奈良ならの都みやこの八重桜やえざくら
けふきょう九重ここのえに匂におひいぬるかな
Author: Ise no Taifu (c. 989–death year unknown)
Source: Shika Wakashū, Spring

English Verse Translation: The double cherry trees, which grew At Nara in past days, Now beautify this Palace, and Their blossoms all ablaze Perfume the royal ways.
— William N. Porter, 1909

Modern Translation: The ancient eightfold cherry blossoms of Nara — today they bloom gloriously in the ninefold imperial palace.

Commentary: When a branch of double cherry blossoms was sent to court from Kōfuku-ji in Nara, Ise no Taifu was suddenly asked to receive it, and Fujiwara no Michinaga told her to make a poem. She linked the blossoms to the glory of Emperor Ichijō's reign, pairing "long ago" with "today" and "eightfold" with "ninefold" (the palace). The whole court was amazed.

About the Poet: Ise no Taifu was the granddaughter of Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu. Her name comes from her father's post at Ise Shrine. She served Empress Akiko and knew Izumi Shikibu and Murasaki Shikibu.

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).

Ise no Taifu: A Short Timeline

c. 989

Born

c. 1008

Serves Empress Akiko

1032

Takes part in the Chrysanthemum Contest held by Jōtōmon-in (Akiko)

1049

Takes part in a palace poetry contest

1056

Takes part in the Empress's Spring and Autumn Poetry Contest

1060

Known to be still alive around this time

Notes

In her later years, helped raise the future Emperor Shirakawa

Ise no Taifu's Family Tree

Hyakunin Isshu poem number (click to go to the poem page)
Generations left out
＝Marriage

100%

The Nakatomi family led Shinto rites and ceremonies, and produced many poets. Yorimoto, Yoshinobu, Sukechika, and Ise no Taifu are well known as poets. Nakatomi no Kamatari was given the family name Fujiwara and became the founder of the Fujiwara clan, which later flourished as the regents' family (sekkanke).

Appendix

Where the Word "Onara" Comes From: There are several theories about where the Japanese word onara (a fart) comes from. The best known is that it comes from the verb narasu (to make a sound). A more unusual theory says it comes from Ise no Taifu's Hyakunin Isshu poem, which mentions nioi and "the double cherry blossoms of the old capital of Nara." Nioi in the poem is usually taken to mean "blooming beautifully," but it can also be read as "smelling." So "Nara" became the source of a smell, and with the polite prefix o it turned into onara.
The Nara Double Cherry: The cherry in Ise no Taifu's poem is said to be the variety called Nara no Yaezakura (Nara double cherry). This is not a general name for double cherries growing in Nara, but one particular variety. It is a double-flowered form of the kasumizakura cherry and has small flowers for a double cherry.

It is the official flower of Nara Prefecture and of Nara City.
Akiko's Answer: Akiko, the empress of Emperor Ichijō whom Ise no Taifu served, answered her poem "Inishie no Nara no miyako no yaezakura..." with the following poem.

In Japanese

九重ここのえに匂におふを見みれば桜さくらがり
重かさねてきたる春はるかとぞ思おもふ kokonoeni niofuomireba sakuragari
kasanetekitaru harukatozoomofu Ise no Taifu-shū, Akiko

In English

Seeing the (late-blooming) double cherries in full bloom in the palace, I feel as if I have come cherry-blossom viewing. It seems as though spring has come again.
Poems Exchanged with Izumi Shikibu: When Ise no Taifu and Izumi Shikibu served Akiko together as ladies-in-waiting, they seem to have been good friends, and the following exchange of poems remains. These poems were written when the two first met.
Izumi Shikibu's Poem: In Japanese

思おもはむと思おもひし人ひとと思おもひしに
思おもひしごとも思おもほゆるかな omohamuto omohishihitoto omohishini
omohishigotomo omohoyurukana Izumi Shikibu Diary, Izumi Shikibu

In English

I thought you were someone who would care for me,
and it is just as I thought.
Ise no Taifu's Poem: In Japanese

君きみをわれ思おもはざりせばわれをきみ
思おもはむとしも思おもはましやは kimioware omohazariseba wareokimi
omohamutoshimo omohamashiyaha Izumi Shikibu Diary, Ise no Taifu

In English

If I had not cared for you,
you would not have cared for me either.
Poems Exchanged with Minamoto no Tsunenobu: This is the story of a poem of thanks that Ise no Taifu sent to Minamoto no Tsunenobu when he visited her while she was ill. The two were more than 20 years apart in age, and Tsunenobu, given a poem as beautiful as white dew (a treasure) by Ise no Taifu, the finest poet of the day, is said to have been so moved that he wrote a poem in reply.
Ise no Taifu's Poem: In Japanese

うれしさは忘わすれやはする忍しのぶ草ぐさ
しのぶるものを秋あきの夕暮ゆうぐれ ureshisaha wasureyahasuru shinobugusa
shinoburumonoo akinoyuugure Shin Kokin Wakashū, Ise no Taifu

In English

How could I forget my joy? Like the shinobu fern,
I fondly think (shinobu) of you this autumn evening.
Minamoto no Tsunenobu's Poem: In Japanese

秋風あきかぜのおとせざりせば白露しらつゆの
軒のきのしのぶにかからましやは akikazeno otosezariseba shiratsuyuno
nokinoshinobuni kakaramashiyaha Shin Kokin Wakashū, Minamoto no Tsunenobu

In English

If the autumn wind had not come calling,
would white dew have settled on the shinobu fern under the eaves?
A Poem About the Hototogisu: For Heian nobles, hearing the first call of the hototogisu (lesser cuckoo), which announced the coming of summer, was something especially elegant.
Ise no Taifu wrote this poem at a poetry contest held by Princess Yūshi.

In Japanese

聞ききつとも聞きかずともなく時鳥ほととぎす
心こころまどはすさ夜よのひと声こえ kikitsutomo kikazutomonaku hototogisu
kokoromadohasu sayonohitokoe Go Shūi Wakashū, Ise no Taifu

In English

I cannot tell whether I heard it or not. O hototogisu, your single call in the night leaves my heart confused.
A Poem About the House Her Lover Left: The headnote in the Ise no Taifu-shū, where this poem appears, says it was written on the fifth day of the fifth month, the year after she left the place where she had lived for years and moved elsewhere. It probably expresses this feeling: the lover she lived with left on this very day a year ago, and though the irises (ayame) in the garden bloom just as they did last year, her present home no longer feels like the home she shared with him.

In Japanese

けふも今日けふあやめもあやめ
変からぬに
宿やどこそありし
宿やどとおぼえぬ kefumokefu ayamemoayame karanuni
yadokosoarishi yadotooboenu Ise no Taifu-shū, Ise no Taifu

In English

Today is the fifth day of the fifth month, the same as last year, and the irises bloom just as before, but this house does not feel at all like the home I once had.
Linked Verse with Fujiwara no Michinobu: The next poem is a linked verse (renga) by Ise no Taifu and Fujiwara no Michinobu.
When Michinobu was passing the rooms of Akiko, Emperor Ichijō's empress, holding yamabuki (kerria) flowers, the ladies-in-waiting begged him to compose a poem. So Michinobu wrote the upper verse, and Ise no Taifu wrote the lower verse.

In Japanese

くちなしにちしほやちしほ
染そめてけり
こはえも言いはぬ
花はなの色いろかな kuchinashini chishihoyachishiho sometekeri
kohaemoihanu hananoirokana Toshiyori Zuinō

In English

I, who hold feelings I cannot speak, like the kuchinashi (gardenia, "no mouth"),
carry these yamabuki flowers, dyed again and again in gardenia yellow.
What a color, too lovely for words!

Yamabuki has yellow flowers. The fruit of the kuchinashi (gardenia) is used as a dye and gives a yellow color. "Kuchinashi" also means "no mouth."
Utagawa Kuniyoshi's Hyakunin Isshu no Uchi: British Museum, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

This ukiyo-e print is by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, an artist of the Edo period.

The Shasekishū, a Kamakura-period collection of Buddhist tales, tells this story. Empress Akiko wanted to bring the famous double cherry tree in front of the Tōendō hall to the Heian palace. The head (bettō) of Kōfuku-ji ordered his men to dig up and move the tree, but a monk objected: "How can we give away such a famous cherry tree? Please stop."

When Akiko heard of the commotion and learned how much the tree was treasured, she praised their care and sent "flower guards" (hanamori). Afterward, Kōfuku-ji presented a branch of the cherry tree to the Heian palace.