was a representative poetess of the Nijō poetic school in the latter half of the Kamakura period. She was rewarded with posthumously. She was a descendant of Fujiwara no Teika, and the daughter of Nijō Tameyo, a great poet. She was the wife of Crown Prince Takaharu-shinnō (later Emperor Go-Daigo-tennō).
At first, she served as Yūgimon'in to Princess Reishi, and later held an important position as Emperor Go-Nijō's lady-in-waiting. Around this time, the late 1300s, she started courting Imperial Prince Takaharu-shinnō, who was also a master of waka poetry. Following the death of Emperor Nijō in 1308, he became Crown Prince, and she became Crown Princess. She lived happily with Prince Takaharu-shinnō and had Imperial Prince Takanaga (also Takayoshi), and Imperial Prince Munenaga (also Muneyoshi), the most well-known poet of the Southern Court (also head priest of Enryaku-ji /Tendai-zasu ), who died prematurely before he ascended the throne. Emperor Go-Daigo, who ascended the throne after Tameko's death, became a protector of the Nijō poetic school and worked to promote it. As a result, through Ashikawa Takauji, the first shogun of the Ashikawa shogunate and a poet, who admired Emperor Go-Daigo, the Nijō poetic school had been the leading school for more than 500 years in the Middle Ages, early modern period and late modern period.
Her poetic style was described as "gentle poetry" and 71 of her poems were collected in the , an imperial anthology of Japanese waka poetry. She influenced future generations, such as Kanze Nobumitsu’s noh play (mid-Muromachi period). Her kiryoka (travelling poetry) was well received, and a poem about Sumida River was selected in the , the anthology of one hundred Japanese waka by one hundred poets (1686). In addition to poetry, she had knowledge of Chinese literature and excelled in writing. She was praised as "the wife of honour" ("the great woman") because of her versatile personality.
Career
Imperial Poetess
Born at the end of the Kamakura period as the daughter of Nijō Tameyo.Tameyo's father, Fujiwara Mikohidarike, was the head of the Fujiwara Hokke family and a great-grandchild to Fujiwara no Teika (also known as Fujiwara Sadaie), Tameyo himself was a major figure in poetry at the time being praised as "a master of the road, he dared to have no sword" (Hanazono Tenno Shinki /"The Records of Emperor Hanazono ") Tameyo was also the author of 2 of 21 imperially commissioned Japanese anthologies of waka poetry under the reign of Emperor Go-Uda: Shingosen Wakashū, the 13th anthology in 1303, and , the 15th anthology in 1320.
At first, Tameko served as Yūgimon'in to Princess Reishi, the favourite princess of Emperor Go-Uda . In 1303, she published her waka poems in the Kagen kyakushu, a 100-poem compilation of the Kōgen era hosted by Emperor Go-Uda (travelling poetry also included in the ). In 1303, her waka was selected in Shingosen Wakashū ("New Later Collection of Japanese Poems "), which was published in the same year, and she became an Imperial Compilation poet under the name Yūgimon'in Gon-dainagon.
Becoming a Crown Princess
In the 1300s, Tameko began courting Prince Takaharu-shinnō (later Emperor Go-Daigo). The exact circumstances of how they met remain unknown, but since Prince Takaharu was an unrivaled poet in waka poetry of his time, it is believed that they met through the hobby of waka. Japanese historian, Toshiharu Hirata, speculated that her eldest son, Imperial Prince Takanaga, was born during the Tokuji period (1306–1308).
In Masukagami, he expresses his infinite love for Tameko through the verses "When I was a boy, I thought endlessly". Furthermore, even in terms of status, she was regarded as the lawful wife of the heir (it is after the death of Tameko that Prince Takaharu meets Empress consort Saionji Kishi). For example, in Hanazono Tenno Shinki ("The Records of Emperor Hanazono"), the family of Nijō Tamesada (grandchild of Tameyo) is called "gaike" (the birthplace of an empress or queen). Although he was defeated, Prince Takanaga later ran for the political dispute over the next crown prince at the recommendation of his father (found on a rolled paper letter, in Tsurumi University Library). Prince Takanaga, the eldest son of both Tameko and Takanaga, was assigned to Yoshida Sadafusa, one of the chief retainers of the Daikakuji Fudai daimyō, to which Takanaga belonged, [in Masukagami ("Spring Farewell")].
In 1306, she recited 30 poems written by Emperor Go-Uda (in Gyokuyō Wakashū, "Collection of Jeweled Leaves"). In March 1307, she participated in Sentoeigu uta-awase (poetry contest), the Shinsenzai Wakashū ("New Waka Collection of a Thousand Years").