# Mitsuko Shiga

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mitsuko_Shiga
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mitsuko_Shiga.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuko_Shiga
> Source revision: 1343586290
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

**Mitsuko Shiga** (四賀光子, *Shiga Mitsuko*) was the [pen-name](/source/Pen-name) of Mitsu Ōta, a Japanese *[tanka](/source/Tanka_(poetry))* poet active in [Taishō](/source/Taish%C5%8D_period) and [Shōwa](/source/Sh%C5%8Dwa_period) periods [Japan](/source/Japan).[1]

## Early life

Mitsuko was born in [Nagano](/source/Nagano,_Nagano) city, [Nagano prefecture](/source/Nagano_prefecture). After graduating from Nagano Normal School, she worked for two years as a teacher, during which time she met the poet [Mizuho Ōta](/source/Mizuho_%C5%8Cta), and began to compose *tanka* verses herself. She entered the Tokyo Women's Higher Normal School (present-day [Ochanomizu University](/source/Ochanomizu_University)) in 1906 and married Mizuho Ōta when she graduated.

## Literary career

While teaching at a girls school in Tokyo, she assisted her husband in his [literary magazine](/source/Literary_magazine), *Chōon*, by contributing *tanka* verses and helping in its overall administration. On Ota's death in 1955, she took over responsibility for the magazine with her son, Ota Seikyu.

She published numerous anthologies of her poetry during her lifetime, including *Fuji no Mi* ("Wisteria Beans"), *Asa Tsuki* ("Morning Moon"), *Asa Ginu* ("Linen Silk"), and *Kamakura Zakki* ("Kamakura Miscellany"). She also published some instructional guides to the writing of poetry, including *Waka dokuhon* ("A Guide to Waka Verse"), *Dentō to Gendai Waka* ("Tradition and Modern Waka").

Mitsuko and her husband Mizuho Ota began to live in [Kamakura](/source/Kamakura,_Kanagawa), [Kanagawa Prefecture](/source/Kanagawa_Prefecture) from 1934, calling their retreat "Yo-yo Sanso." What began as a quiet getaway became their permanent home from 1939. Shiga continued to live there after her husband's death, and died in 1976. Her grave is at the temple of [Tōkei-ji](/source/T%C5%8Dkei-ji) in Kamakura, which also has a large stone monument inscribed with one of her verses.

## See also

- [Japanese literature](/source/Japanese_literature)
- [List of Japanese authors](/source/List_of_Japanese_authors)

## References

- Morrell, Sachiko Kaneko. *Zen Sanctuary of Purple Robes: Japan's Tōkeiji Convent Since 1285*. SUNY Press (2006). ISBN 0791468283

## Notes

1. "[Shiga Mitsuko](http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/bunka/bunjinroku/shigamitsuko_e.htm) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090808070153/http://www.city.kamakura.kanagawa.jp/bunka/bunjinroku/shigamitsuko_e.htm) 2009-08-08 at the Wayback Machine." *[City of Kamakura](/source/Kamakura,_Kanagawa)*. Accessed October 12, 2008.

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mitsuko Shiga](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuko_Shiga) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitsuko_Shiga?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.