Shirome

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Shirome was a minor female Japanese waka poet, who lived during the 900s CE. Her occupation was that of an oiran, a common prostitute during that period, not even as socially respectable as the geisha would be. Nevertheless, a great poem of hers was included in the Kokinshu:

If I were only sure

I could live as long as I wanted to,

I would not have to weep

at parting from you.

[edit] References

pg 19 & 142 of Woman poets of Japan, 1977, Kenneth Rexroth, Ikuko Atsumi, ISBN 0-8112-0820-6; previously published as The Burning Heart by The Seabury Press.
"Shadows of Transgression: Heian and Kamakura Constructions of Prostitution" by Janet R. Goodwin. Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 55, No. 3 (Autumn, 2000), pp. 327-368