Nakajima Utako

Nakajima Utako

Nakajima Utako ( Japanese 中 島 歌子 ; * December 14, 1844 in Tokyo or Sakado , Saitama Prefecture ; † January 30, 1903 ) was a Japanese poet of the Meiji period and is known as the founder of the Haginoya poetry school ( 萩 の 舎 ), the was also visited by Higuchi Ichiyō .

Life

Nakajima Utako was born as the second daughter of Nakajima Matazaemon ( 中 島 又 左衛 門 ). Her childhood name was Tose ( と せ ). As the descendants of the important statesman Ōta Dōkan , the builder of Edo Castle , the Nakajimas had been known as village chiefs for generations. The house of Fukushima ( 福島 ), from which Utako's mother came from, was in turn a powerful trading house and purveyor to the Shogunate . The mother was active in the internal ministry of Kawagoe Castle and was able to establish close relationships with the Nabeshima house.

When Utako was ten years old, she became a lady-in-waiting in the estate of the highest administrative officer of Harima Province (in today's Hyōgo ), Matsudaira ( 松 平 ). At the age of 18 she married a vassal of the Mito - han , Hayashi Chūzaemon ( 林忠 左衛 門 ), and moved with him to Mito. But in 1864, shortly before the Meiji Restoration , he was seriously injured and committed suicide. After the Meiji Restoration, Utako returned to Edo , which was now called Tōkyō, and received training in Japanese poetry (see Waka ) and calligraphy under Katō Chinami ( 加藤 千 浪 ) . She became known as an old school poet. Around 1877 she founded the Haginoya School of Poetry, where she mainly trained women of the upper and middle class. A total of over 1000 graduates are said to have attended the school. Among them were Higuchi Ichiyō and Miyake Kaho ( 三 宅 花圃 ).

Web links

• Entry in the person directory of the PDD private library (Japanese)
• Biographical information in a work published at Seitoku University on Waka (Japanese)

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Nakajima is the family name, Utako the first name.