Abstract

Reiko Morota skillfully weaves together historical fact and literary imagination, portraying the resilience of women, the richness of daily life, and the sincerity of human emotion. Her prose is both graceful and accessible—imbued with the depth of history and the warmth of fiction—earning her the admiration of a wide readership.

"Just once, I wish I could return to Kanazawa." —The secret love and lifelong yearning of Princess Tomihime, who married from the Kaga Maeda clan into the Hachijo-no-miya imperial family in the early Edo period.
For the survival of both the Maeda clan and the Hachijo-no-miya family—After a political marriage, Lady Tomihime (“Ofu-sama”) endures schemes and misfortunes, while harboring a hidden love unknown to all.
In the early Edo period, Tomihime—fourth daughter of Maeda Toshitsune of the Kaga domain—was married into the Hachijō-no-miya family in Kyoto, renowned for building the Katsura Imperial Villa.
It was a political marriage meant to preserve harmony with the Imperial Court, even while watching the moods of the Tokugawa shogunate. Kocho, a lady-in-waiting assigned to serve Ofu-sama upon her marriage, vows to protect her mistress and devotes herself to her service. Amid courtly intrigues and unforeseen calamities plotted by nobles hostile to the Maeda, Ofu-sama finds herself torn between her duty as a consort and a love she must never reveal.
Through the eyes of her loyal attendant unfolds the hidden story of Lady Ofu’s heart—and the fervent wish she carried to the end.

Author’s Information

Born in Shizuoka Prefecture in 1954. Graduated from the Department of English Literature, Faculty of Letters, Sophia University. Debuted in 1996 with "Bewitchment" (Genwaku). Winner of the Yoshikawa Eiji Prize for New Writers for "Sono Ichinichi" (2003);
the Jiro Nitta Literary Award for "Kanfu ni Arazaru" (2007); the Historical Fiction Writers Club Award for "The Forty-Eighth Loyal Retainer" (2012); and the Shinran Prize for "Once More, Izumi Shikibu" (2018).