Izumi Shikibu Comments

when it is said that Izumi Shikibu was one of the 36 'Poetry Immortals', it doesn't refer to The Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry (三十六歌仙 Sanjūrokkasen) - a group of Japanese poets of the Nara, Asuka and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability - , but to a second list of ''36'' ''Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen'' (女房三十六歌仙) , composed later, in the Kamakura period:

- The Thirty-Six Female Immortals of Poetry: ''Nyōbō Sanjūrokkasen'' (女房三十六歌仙) , composed in the Kamakura period, refers to thirty-six female immortals of poetry: Ono no Komachi Ise Nakatsukasa Kishi Joō Ukon Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha Uma no Naishi Akazome Emon Izumi Shikibu Kodai no Kimi Murasaki Shikibu Koshikibu no Naishi Ise no Taifu Sei Shōnagon Daini no Sanmi Takashina no Kishi Yūshi Naishinnō-ke no Kii Sagami Shikishi Naishinnō Kunai-kyō Suō no Naishi Fujiwara no Toshinari no Musume Taikenmon'in no Horikawa Gishūmon'in no Tango Kayōmon'in no Echizen Nijō In no Sanuki Kojijū Go-Toba-in no Shimotsuke Ben no Naiji Go-Fukakusa In no Shōshōnaishi Inpumon'in no Tayū Tsuchimikado In no Kosaishō Hachijō-in Takakura Fujiwara no Chikako Shikikenmon'in no Mikushige Sōhekimon'in no Shōshō

her diary, Izumi Shikibu Nikki, is one of the principal Heian court works and her poetic memoirs, Izumi Shikibu Shū, which exist in various forms, ranging from 647 to 902 poems, remains the most outstanding work by a single poet from the period.

Her attitude to life and passion earned her the moniker of '' The Floating Lady ''. Shikibu’s passion comes across in her poetry of the time. The Diary of Izumi Shikibu covered a period of five years when she was having her affair with Prince Atsumichi and combined romanticism and eroticism with Buddhist philosophy. At the Imperial Court she had a rivalry with her sister who was also a poet and was praised for her short verses and their emotional power. This was the time when she wrote her most influential works that were published in later Imperial collections. Her poetry is characterized by great passion and the desire to choose her own romantic fate.

Izumi Shikibu (和泉 式部) (976? – 1033?)