A Romantic Love Letter written by Lady Shigenari
October 15, 2009 by Carol
Filed under Missing You Love Letters
A Romantic Love Letter written by Lady Shigenari to Lord Shigenari, Governor of Nagato (16th Century Japan.
It is believed that this romantic love letter was written 16th Century
I know that when two wayfarers ‘take shelter under the same tree and slake their thirst in the same river’ it has all been determined by their karma from a previous life. For the past few years you and I have shared the same pillow as man and wife who had intended to live and grow old together, and I have become as attached to you as your own shadow. This is what I believed, and I think this is what you have also thought about us.
But now I have learnt about the final enterprise on which you have decided and, though I cannot be with you to share the grand moment, I rejoice in the knowledge of it. It is said that (on the eve of his final battle) the Chinese general, Hsiang Yü, valiant warrior though he was, grieved deeply about leaving Lady Yü, and that (in our own country) Kiso Yoshinaka lamented his parting from Lady Matsudono.
I have now abandoned all hope about our future together in this world, and (mindful of their example) I have resolved to take the ultimate step while you are still alive. I shall be waiting for you at the end of what they call the road to death.
I pray that you may never, never forget the great bounty, deep as the ocean, high as the mountains, that has been bestowed upon us for so many years by our lord, Prince Hideyori.
To Lord Shigenari, Governor of Nagato From His Wife
Note what she is saying about how she is expecting her husband to be killed in the next ultimate battle he is about to face in their war. She talks about their life together as husband and wife sharing a bed but now she is unlikely to ever do that again and has decided to commit suicide in order to meet him in the next world (where ever that may be). This is not a step I would support no matter how much you are going to miss someone I strongly believe it is important to honour their life and live it to the full and celebrate the relationship you have had. But this was Japan in the sixteenth century and a completely different culture to the one I grew up in.
