Ben no Menoto

This article is about the wet nurse Fujiwara no Akiko (or Ben no Menoto). For the Empress Consort Fujiwara no Akiko, see Empress Shōshi. For the Empress Consort of a similar name, see Fujiwara no Ariko.

Ben no Menoto
弁乳母
Born	Fujiwara no Akiko 藤原明子 ?
Died	?
Occupation	Menoto
Spouse	Fujiwara no Kanetsune
Children	Fujiwara no Akitsuna
Father	Fujiwara no Junji
Relatives	Fujiwara no Nagako (Granddaughter)
Family	Fujiwara Clan

Ben no Menoto (弁乳母), (year of birth and death unknown) was the menoto of Princess Teishi, the daughter of Emperor Sanjō. Her real name was Fujiwara no Akiko.

Life

Ben no Menoto was the menoto (wetnurse) if Princess Teishi. She began her service in 1013, and was supposedly on good terms with Suō no Naishi. She was also a poet, and her poems are collected in the Goshūi Wakashū

Poetry

Japanese	Rōmaji	English
白川の近きわたりにちる花は梢に懸る波かとぞみる	Shirakawa no chikaki watari ni chiru hana wa kozue ni kakaru nami ka to zo miru	The flowers that fall at the approach of the Shirakawa River are like waves on the treetops.