Born around 630, she became the foremost female poet of the 7th century. In her youth she was with Prince Oama (later Emperor Tenmu) and bore him Princess Toichi. She was later taken as a favorite by Prince Naka no Oe (later Emperor Tenji), setting the stage for one of Japanese poetry's great romances. At a royal medicinal herb hunt on Kamono Plain, her former companion Oama waved his sleeve in her direction; her response—"At the purple field, the marked field—does the warden not see you waving your sleeve?"—became one of the finest poems in the Man'yōshū. Oama's reply pledging love despite the taboo completed a famous poetic exchange. Her poems are marked by direct, passionate expression that embodies the emotional freedom of the Man'yōshū era. The details of her later life are scarce and her death year unknown, but 13 of her poems survive in the anthology.

A passionate, deeply sensitive poet. Her bold candor in expressing love between two princes symbolizes the freedom of women in the Man'yōshū era. Some scholars suggest she had shamanistic qualities.

Immortalized in Japanese literary history as the foremost female poet of the Man'yōshū. Regarded alongside Kakinomoto no Hitomaro as one of the two greatest Man'yōshū poets.