Waka poet ono no komachi biography

Japanese waka poet

In this Japanese name, the surname is Ono.

Ono no Komachi (小野小町, c. 825 – c. 900^{[citation needed]}) was a Japanesewaka poet, one of the Rokkasen—the six best waka poets of the early Heian period.

She was renowned for her unusual beauty, and Komachi is today a synonym for feminine beauty in Japan.^[1] She also counts among the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals.

Life

Almost nothing of Komachi's life is known for certain, save for the names of various men with whom she engaged in romantic affairs and whose poetry exchanges with her are preserved in the Kokin Wakashū.^[2] She was probably born between 820 and 830, and she was most active in composing poetry around the middle of the ninth century.^[2]

Extensive study has gone into trying to ascertain her place of birth, her family and so on, but without conclusive results.^[2] The Edo-period scholar Arai Hakuseki advanced the theory that th