Revisiting the ruins of Fukuoka Castle yesterday, we spotted a signboard featuring information about Nomura Motoni (1806-67). She was, it said, a Fukuoka-born poet: "After becoming a Buddhist nun she associated with loyalists such as Takasugi Shinsaku [1839-67], in the revolutionary time of the Meiji Restoration. When it was a dangerous time for them she provided refuge in the Hirao Sanso cottage. However, she was later captured and sent to an island prison."

Intriguing...



Today, we walked over to the cited Hirao Sanso cottage, which stands in Sanso Park, and has been restored (see the picture at the top):






It's not easy to find information about Nomura.

The 1920 edition of the Asian Review includes an account of her life by Takaaki Okoto, her biography, but the quality of the scanning makes it pretty difficult to decipher. Nevertheless, a bit of scouting around other sources means we can amplify some of the points in the castle description.

According to William Deal, who describes her as "a poet and political activist", she was married to a Samurai, and became a Buddhist nun when her husband died (in 1859). The "waka" she wrote (these are 31-syllable poems otherwise known as tanka) were political in character, offering support for the late-Edo movement that aimed to end warrior government and restore direct imperial rule. Her activism led to her arrest by the shogunal authorities, and she spent 10 months in exile. Her poetry was published in the anthology Koryoshu (1863).

Shinko Fushimi, in an undated article entitled Haiku in English and Japanese as a Lifelong Continuing Education, explains how a waka by Takasugi Shinsaku (who was sheltered by Nomura when he was being pursued by the Tokugawa authorities) was actually finished by her.

He wrote: "Living an exciting life in the not-exciting world" (the first 5-7-5 syllables). She added the last 7-7 syllables: "It would depend on his heart" (meaning, says Fushimi, "follow and do as your heart orders").

Nomura was exiled to the island of Himeshima, but rescued on the orders of Takasugi (there's a woodblock illustration here).

So, she remains a bit of a mystery to the non-Japanese speaker. I'll be keeping my eye open for more information, though...

And Sanso Park is also associated with some other poetic history: