Giō

Giō is said to have been born in Kaga Province, Japan.^[2] Because her father Tachibana Jiro Tokinaga, who served in the northern court was killed in the Hogen rebellion of 1156, Giō went to the capital along with her younger sister, Gijo, and mother, Toji, and became a shirabyoshi, gaining the favor of Taira no Kiyomori.^[3] One day, when Lord Kiyomori asked Giō if there was anything she wished for, she replied, "The people in my hometown are suffering from a water shortage, so please build an irrigation canal to my hometown." This coincided with Kiyomori's focus on economic policies at the time, and he promptly had an irrigation canal built from the Yasugawa River. Thanks to this, the water shortage in the surrounding area (approximately 3,000 tan) was instantly resolved, and the area became one of the leading rice-producing regions in Ōmi Province.^[4]After that, the favor of the retired Prime Minister (Kiyomori) shifted to Hotoke Gozen, and Giō was suddenly no longer summoned to his side. Hotoke had originally relied on her skills and tried to sell her art on the spot, but when Kiyomori turned her away at the door, Giō interceded on her behalf. Feeling indebted to Giō, she encouraged him to speak to her, but this backfired, and Kiyomori ordered Giō to be driven away. As she departed, Giō left a poem written on the shoji screen:^[5]

Whether sprouting or withering, the grasses of the field are the same; which one will perish without meeting in autumn?^[6]

She was treated poorly, with her payments cut off, and was forced to endure the humiliation of being made to comfort Hotoke Gozen. During this time, she sang, "Even the Buddha was once an ordinary man, we too will eventually become Buddhas." Giō contemplated suicide, but was persuaded by her mother, Toji, to stay, and together with her mother and younger sister, Gijo, entered the Buddhist priesthood at Saga Ōjōin (present-day Giōji). She is said to have been 21 years old at the time.^[7]

However, after reading Giō's poem, Hotoke Gozen realized that worldly glory is fleeting, and she left Kiyomori's service, became a nun, and visited Giō and the others. Giō had harbored resentment towards Hotoke Gozen, but upon seeing Hotoke Gozen abandon her glory and become a nun, her resentment vanished. Giō and the others welcomed Hotoke Gozen, and together they spent their days in devout Buddhist practice. Giō, Gijo, Toji, and Hotoke Gozen each fulfilled their long-held wish to attain rebirth in paradise, and their names were added to the register of the deceased at Chōkōdō.^[8]

At Giōji Temple in Okusaga, there remains a stone monument inscribed with "Shōnyo Zenny passed away on the 15th day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of Jōan (September 4th, 1172)." If "Shōnyo Zenny" refers to Giō, then she is said to have died on the 15th day of the 8th month of the 2nd year of Jōan (September 4th, 1172). In the world of haiku poetry, "Giō-ki" (Giō Memorial Day) is considered to be the 14th day of the 2nd month of the lunar calendar and is a spring seasonal word. Furthermore, at Raikōji Temple in Kobe City, Hyogo Prefecture, there is a tower called Giō Gijo-tō, which is said to be the tomb of Giō and Gijo.