Ono No Komachi

Ono No Komachi was born in 825 and her name is synonymous with beauty even today in modern Japan. She was a waka poet (also known as tanka or short poem) and is listed amongst the 36 immortals of poetry in Japan. There is little that we know of Komachi during her lifetime – her birth place is not known and much of what is gleaned about her is considered part of her legend.

Seeing the Moonlight

Seeing the moonlight

spilling down

through these trees,

my heart fills to the brim

with autumn.

— Ono No Komachi