難波潟

みじかき芦の

ふしの間も

逢はでこの世を

過ぐしてよとや

いせ

なにわがた

みじかきあしの

ふしのまも

あわでこのよを

すぐしてよとや

Lady Ise

Even for a time

Short as a node of a reed

In Naniwa marsh,

We must never meet again,

Is that what you are saying?

Hokusai

Lady Ise, or Ise no Miyasudokoro or Ise no Go, (c. 875 – c. 938) was a female poet in the Imperial court's waka tradition. The Ise shu, a collection of 483 poems written by and to Ise, was apparently produced in her own lifetime. Her father was governor of the province of Ise, hence her name.

作者略伝と語釈

Lady Ise by Kuniyoshi

What is now the shore of Osaka Bay was formerly Naniwa marshland, and Naniwa is present-day Osaka Bay.

Hokusai depicted rice fields along the shore. He probably interpreted naniwa gata (‘Naniwa marshes’) as naniwa ga ta (‘Naniwa rice fields’).