Nakajima Utako


Nakajima Utako was a Japanese waka and tanka poet and conservatory founder. Associated with Keien court poetry, she founded the Haginoya poetry school, the most notable of the poetry conservatories during the Meiji period.
Nakajima Utako was born in 1844, the second daughter of Nakajima Matazaemon. Her childhood name was Tose. As descendants of the statesman, Ōta Dōkan, the builder of Edo Castle, the Nakajimas were known for generations as village leaders. The house of Fukushima, the mother's family, was also a powerful trading house and court supplier of the shōgun. The mother was active in the inner service of Kawagoe Castle and was able to establish close relations with the house of Nabeshima. When Nakajima was 10 years old, she became a maid of honor in the estate of the highest administrative officer of Matsudaira in Harima Province. At the age of 18, she married a vassal of Mito-han, Hayashi Chūzaemon, and moved with him to Mito. But he was seriously injured in 1864, just before the Meiji restoration, and committed suicide. After the Meiji restoration, Nakajima returned to Edo, where she received an education in waka and calligraphy under Katō Chinami. As a poet of the old school, she gained prominence. Around the year 1877, she founded the school of Haginoya, where she mainly trained women of the upper and middle class. In total, more than 1,000 graduates attended the school. Among them were Higuchi Ichiyō and Miyake Kaho. Her works include 近代の女性文学者たち, 萩のしつく, 文学者の手紙. 5, and 早稲穂のかつら.