Women's Loyalty: Feminism in the Twelfth Century

 Loyalty and devotion from woman to woman. This is what Michiura Motoko（道浦母都子）, who found it in Ukyonodaibu
（建礼門院右京大夫 1157 ?～1233 ?）, says.

　In other words, that is why Ukyonodaibu left "Kenrenmonin-Ukyonodaibu-shu（建礼門院右京大夫集）". It is said that this was the age of men, and behind the men's story symbolized in "The Tale of the Heike," she wrote down the story of the women who lived there in the form of waka（和歌） and essay. Her loyalty to Kenreimonin, a loyalty that belonged to men, was carried out through literature as a new form of loyalty from a woman to a woman.
　When Lord Teika informed her that Ukyonotaibu's long-cherished wish had been granted and that he had recommended her for inclusion in the "Imperial Anthology," she wrote,

If the leaves of the word scatter in the world, the name of the old days will be remembered (460)
「言の葉のもし世に散らば偲ばしき昔の名こそとめまほしけれ（四六〇）」

, and asked to be included in the anthology under the name of "Kenreimonin Ukyo-daibu. The time was already the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the era of the Minamoto clan. Despite this, she remained loyal to Kenreimonin. In this, I see the high aspirations of Kenrenmonin-Ukyonodaibu, even though she was a woman, and her deep-seated longing for Sukemori.
Michiura Motoko, "The Name of the Old Days: Kenrenmonin-Ukyonodaibu（昔の名こそ　建礼門院右京大夫）," Gunjyounofu（『群青の譜』）, 2000, Kawade Shobo Shinsha, pp. 57-8.

　From the perspective of global history, the glorious achievements of a group of women writers in the Heian period (794-1185) should be described as unique compared to the Ancient Mediterranean World and the Chinese imperial world. As storytellers and kajin (歌人 poets), the women of ancient Japan were equal to, or even surpassed, their male counterparts. I believe that it is the privilege and duty of the Japanese people to re-evaluate this human historical figure.
 〔The above English translation was assisted by DeepL.〕