of the most typical Japanese poetic art. Legacy The many legends about her have made her the best-known of the Rokkasen in modern times. Until relatively recently, when the title "Miss XYZ" became common in Japan, the woman considered most beautiful in such-and-such town or region would be dubbed "XYZ Komachi". She and her contemporary Ariwara no Narihira are considered archetypes of female and male beauty, respectively, and both feature heavily in later literary works, particularly Noh plays. Komachi features frequently in later-period literature, including five Noh plays: Sotoba Komachi, Sekidera Komachi, Ōmu Komachi, Sōshi Arai Komachi and Kayoi Komachi. These works tend to focus on her talent for waka and her love affairs and the vanity of a life spent indulging in romantic liaisons. Komachi's old age is also frequently portrayed: when she has lost her beauty, has been abandoned by her former lovers, and now regrets her life, wandering around as a lonely beggar woman — albeit still appreciated by young admirers of her poetry. This fictional description is influenced by Buddhist thought and there may be no factual resemblance between it and the historical reality. Komachi is also a frequent subject of Buddhist paintings, which depict her dead body in successive stages of decay to emphasize transience. Mishima Yukio reworked Sotoba Komachi for the modern theater, publishing his version in January 1952. It was first performed the following month. The basic plot (the age-worn former beauty encounters a young poet and relates some of her life's story, which causes him to fall in love with her, with fatal results) is retained, but the action takes place in a public park, with flashbacks to the salons and ballrooms of Meiji-era Japan. An English translation by Donald Keene was published in 1967. The play Three Poets by playwright Romulus Linney includes a one act story about Komachi the poet. In her honor, the Akita Shinkansen is named Komachi. A variety of rice, Akita Komachi, also bears her name. Gallery References Cited works Katagiri Yōichi 2009 (2nd ed.; 1st ed. 2005). Kokin Wakashū. Tokyo: Kasama Shoin. McMillan, Peter 2010 (1st ed. 2008). One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each. New York: Columbia University Press. Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi 2009 (1st ed. 1997). Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu''. Tokyo: Bun'eidō. External links Bengali tanslation ono no komachi by Moom Rahman E-text of her poems in Japanese 820s births 900 deaths 9th-century