late Heian period · dates unknown (late 12th c.)Kōkamon'in no Bettō

A late Heian woman poet, daughter of Minamoto no Toshitaka, who served Empress Kōkamon'in, consort of Emperor Sutoku and daughter of Fujiwara no Tadamichi. Through the empress's household she frequented the Kujō family and took part in a poetry contest held by Kujō Kanezane around 1181. Little else is known of her, and only nine of her poems survive in imperial anthologies. Her Hyakunin Isshu poem, on the set topic of love at a travelers' lodging, weaves together the reeds of Naniwa, a single night, and the channel-markers of the bay in a dense web of wordplay.