Princess Nukata, one of the finest poets in the first part of the Man'yoshu [collection of poetry, compiled in the later half of the 8th century, Japan], lived in the turbulent time of the establishment of the Imperial Clan as the rulers of Japan. She, like Sappho, is half legendary, but is considered to have been a divine messenger, an oracle or shamaness, and a public poet. Her greatness lies in her ability to combine in universal terms the expression of personal passion and powerful collective emotion -- and in the extraordinary beauty of her sonorous poetry...
-- from A Waka Anthology, Volume One: The Glistening Cup, by Edwin A. Cranston
Poems by Nukata