Akazome Emon's year of birth is unknown, but she was likely born between Tentoku 1 and Kōhō 1. She was officially the daughter of Akazome Tokimochi, but the late-Heian karonsho records that her biological father was her mother's first husband, Taira no Kanemori. A poetic exchange between Emon and Fujiwara no Michitaka, dating to around Ten'en 2 to Jōgen 2, when she was likely in her late teens, is the earliest dateable event in her life. At roughly this time, she went to serve in the household of Minamoto no Masanobu, and for a long time thereafter she served his daughterRinshi, the wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga. It was also around this time that she married, a Confucianscholar and poet of both waka and kanshi. They had a son,, a daughter, Gō Jijū, and one more daughter. The couple were considered to be "lovebirds". According to her personal waka collection, the Akazome Emon Shū, when Masahira was twice sent to serve in Owari Province, she accompanied him both times. The collection also indicates that she worked to ensure her son's professional success at court and presenting poems as offerings to Sumiyoshi Shrine when he fellill. The Fukuro-zōshi portrays her as gently supporting her husband when he was overwhelmed by his official duties. These works present Emon as a good wife and wise mother. She also devoted much effort to her service as Rinshi's lady-in-waiting. In Chōwa 1, her husband died, and a few years later Emon became a nun. She apparently lived a long and tranquil life from this point, living to see the birth of her great grandson Ōe no Masafusa in Chōkyū 2. Akazome Emon served Minamoto no Rinshi and Fujiwara no Shōshi, respectively the wife and daughter of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and she was present at the Imperial court at the same time as Izumi Shikibu. She was a contemporary of Murasaki Shikibu, who praised her writing, and Sei Shōnagon. The year of her death is uncertain, but she probably lived until at least 1041.
Poetry and other writings
Emon remained active in waka composition until late in life, contributing poems to uta-awase competitions on the sixteenth day of the fifth month of Chōgen 8, the Kanpaku-Sadaijin-ke Uta-awase, and 1041, the Kokiden no Nyōgo Uta-awase. She also contributed a screen poem to celebrate Rinshi's seventieth year, in 1033. She left a personal collection, the Akazome Emon Shū, and she is also believed to have been the writer of the first part of Eiga Monogatari. Her poetry was incorporated into court anthologies from the Shūi Wakashū on. She ranks fourth in the number of her poems that were included in the Goshūi Wakashū, with a total of 32. More than 60 of her poems were included in the Kin'yō Wakashū and later court anthologies. In her article on Emon, Hiroko Saitō called her poetic style unexceptional.
