LADY NIJO'S OWN STORY:The Candid Diary Of a Thirteenth Century Japanese Imperial Concubine
by Lady NIJO (Nakanoin Masatada) ;  Translated by Wilfrid Whitehouse & Eizo Yanagisawa.
 Rutland, Vt, Tuttle, 1974. First Printing. Very good hardcover dust jacket; 395 pages. FROM THE PUBLISHER - The candid diary of a 13th century Japanese Imperial Concubine. Lady Nijo was a member of the powerful Fujiwara Nijo Family. Her father and paternal grandfather held important positions at the imperial court, and many of her relatives and ancestors had high reputations for their literary abilities. Her real name does not survive. The name Nijo' was given to her at the court: it was common practice at the time to designate court ladies by street names, and Nijo' ( Second Avenue') designates a high rank. According to the Towazugatari, Emperor Go-Fukakusa was in love with Nijo's mother, Sukedai. However, she died shortly after Nijo was born, and Go-Fukakusa turned his affections to Nijo. She was taken to the court at the age of four, and was subsequently raised there. The Towazugatari begins in 1271, when Nijo, aged 14, is given by her father to Go-Fukakusa as a concubine. The novel proceeds to describe Nijo's life at the court, which was plagued by numerous troubles. Her father died when she was 15, and her relationship with the emperor was strained from the beginning, because she took several other lovers over the years, including one whom she knew before becoming a concubine. Matters were complicated further by Nijo's pregnancies: the only child she bore to Go-Fukakusa died in infancy, and the other three children she had were not by the emperor. Go-Fukakusa's consort, Higashi-nijo, was greatly displeased with Nijo's behaviour and Go-Fukakusa's apparent affinity for the concubine. Ultimately, it was due to Higashi-nijo's request that Nijo was expelled from the court in 1283. Nijo's fate is revealed in books 4 and 5 of Towazugatari. Like many women in Medieval Japan whose lives met with unfortunate circumstances, Nijo became a Buddhist nun. She traveled to sacred and historical places, returning to the capital regularly.