Empress Shōshi
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Fujiwara no Shōshi , also known as Jōtōmon-in (上東門院), the eldest daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, was Empress of Japan from c. 1000 to c. 1011. Her father sent her to live in the Emperor Ichijō's harem at age 12. Because of his power, influence and political machinations she quickly achieved the status of second empress . As empress she was able to surround herself with a court of talented and educated ladies-in-waiting such as Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji.
Fujiwara no Shōshi with her infant son Atsuhira is depicted in this 13th-century painting, with her father Fujiwara no Michinaga and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu presiding at the 50-day ceremony of the child's birth.
Murasaki Shikibu, shown here in a late-16th-century illustration by Tosa Mitsuoki, joined Shōshi's court in c. 1005.
Emperor Ichijō, Shōshi's husband and father of her two sons, the Emperors Go-Ichijō and Go-Suzaku
Fujiwara no Michinaga, shown in a 13th-century painting, sent his 12-year-old daughter to court as consort to Emperor Ichijō.
Izumi Shikibu
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Izumi Shikibu was a mid-Heian period Japanese poet. She is a member of the Thirty-six Medieval Poetry Immortals . She was the contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, and Akazome Emon at the court of empress Joto Mon'in.
