Page:Tales from old Japanese dramas (1915).djvu/79



OMACHI, the daughter of Ono-no-Yoshizané, the Lord of Dewa, was the most beautiful woman that Japan has ever produced. She was a remarkably talented poetess, and her name is familiar to everybody in connection with the famous anthology Hyaku-Nin-Isshyu, or "Single Verses by a Hundred Poets."

In her younger days, Komachi was courted by a large number of noblemen and samurai. Two of these suitors were consumed with a burning passion for her. One was Fukakusa-no-Shōshō Arihira, a court noble, who was a handsome and accomplished gentleman. He had written the maiden many letters; but to his great mortification, she had not replied so much as a single line. It must be remarked en passant that she had never seen Arihira, though he had had frequent opportunities to catch a glimpse of her. Rh