Shirakatsu's famous Shirakatsu dancers

Shizuku Mitsumae came from a long line of dancers, and her mother was a famous Shirakabaeko dancer, which made her dancing skills even more impressive by the time she was born. Her beauty was proved by a legend that at that time, when there was a drought and no rain, prayers were ineffective. It is said that the god of rain likes beautiful women, so the court organized a hundred beautiful women to dance the "white beat" dance for the god of rain. 99 of them danced, but the god of rain was not impressed, only when Shizumae danced, the god of rain could not reject her beauty and was moved, and it finally rained to end the drought. As a result, Shizumae's beauty gained the reputation of "Nippon Ichi" (Japan's No. 1). At that time, Minamoto no Yoritomo, the younger brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, a powerful courtier, saw Shizumae and was attracted to her beauty, and Shizumae became Minamoto no Yoritomo's concubine at the age of fourteen. The name "Shizumae" is a stage name in itself, and there was also a famous "Shirakabaeko" dancer called "Fo-Mizumae" at that time.

However, some Japanese historians, looking closely at the historical record, have some doubts about her beauty - after Gen Yoshitsune was suspected of being involved in a revolt, Shizumae's followers in the party rebelled and robbed her of her belongings, leaving her with no money to pay for her expenses, and Shizumae was arrested by monks in a nearby mountain village and returned to the capital. The fact that her subordinates robbed her of her possessions, but not of her sex, may suggest that Jing was merely a skillful dancer and good at make-up. Her beauty was exaggerated by later generations who sympathized with the tragedy of her love for Minamoto no Yoshitsune. Compared to Shizumi, Ichi's beauty seems to be unquestioned. She was the youngest sister of Oda Nobunaga, who was known for acting in a wild and violent manner, and married Asai Nagamasa, an ally of Oda, at the age of 16. Ichi was known as "the most beautiful woman in the world" at the time, and many famous military generals were her admirers - though this may have been an opportunity for the generals to kiss her older brother's ass. But the fact that after Oda Nobunaga's death, there were still samurai generals who courted the widowed Ichi shows that her beauty was not just a boast.

And, from the records of the time, although Oda Nobunaga's character was violent and arrogant, Ichi was a gentle and supple woman, and had an uncontroversial character, as if the two had no genetic **** in common, which also made her gain more sympathy. The third beauty, Tamako Hosokawa, was also related to Nobunaga Oda. Her father was Mitsuhide Akechi, the lord of Kameyama Castle, who was a subordinate of Oda, and Tamako was loved by Nobunaga Oda, who made a match for her. Later, Akechi Mitsuhide started the "Honnouji Rebellion", forcing Oda Nobunaga to commit suicide, and her family and the above mentioned Ichi were bitter rivals. Tamako Hosokawa was even more memorable for her distinctive religious beliefs, as she was one of the few Christians in Japan at the time and refused to change her faith.

Hosokawa was a character in her early years, and someone once translated Hosokawa's words and actions from Japanese because she was able to act on her own terms and was an early female liberationist. However, Japanese texts record that while she was like this in her early years, she became stoic and stoic in her later years after she converted to Christianity, and was described by the poet KIMURA Yuefeng as "a model of Japanese womanhood," which, if translated, would probably make some people think of her as a Sung Jiang-style capitulationist.

While her beauty has been repeatedly described, the stronger evidence is that her husband, Hosokawa Tadahide, was unable to kill her when he should have done so as a sign of fidelity. Therefore, there is also the view that Tamako Hosokawa's beauty was somewhat watered down. An example to support this view is that Hashiba Hideyoshi, the warlord who put down the Honnouji Rebellion, was a lustful man who tried to force the widowed Ichi to marry him, and as a result, he attacked and killed Shibata Katsuya, who was married to Ichi. However, he seemed to have little interest in Hosokawa, whose reputation for beauty was equal to Ichi's, and took the initiative to set her up with her husband. If Hashiba didn't have a dual personality, then Hosokawa's beauty would seem to need to be revisited.

However, the usual talk of beauty gushing and looking at Japan's top three beauties is rather twisted.

The reason is that this "Japan's three great beauties", none of them can get a good end, and the life of the abnormal, as if Qiong Yao and Wen Rui'an co-written a sad novel.

Shizen's husband, Minamoto Yoshitsune, was hunted down by his suspicious brother, Minamoto Yoritomo, and had to abandon his wife and flee into the Yoshino mountains, which resulted in Shizen being captured by Minamoto Yoritomo. Shizumi was ordered to dance in memory of Yoshitsune in a song that has been called one of Japan's greatest songs of all time. At that time, she was pregnant, and Yoritomo said that he would help her if she gave birth to a girl and kill her if she gave birth to a boy. When a boy was born, Yoritomo sent Kiyoharu Yasuda to drown the baby and make Shizumae a nun. At that time, Shizumi was nineteen years old. Soon after, Minamoto no Yoshitsune was killed. The final fate of Shizumae varies, but it is said that she committed suicide by throwing herself into the water after receiving the news of Yoshitsune's death. The place of her suicide is said to be either in Himekawa, Hokkaido, or in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture. In Koriyama, there is still a beautiful pond where she is said to have committed suicide. It is also said that she was killed by Ogasawara Shosai, a powerful official.

Ashi's first husband, Asai Nagamasa, was forced to die by self-immolation when he fought Oda Nobunaga for the world. Although Ichi escaped, his brother Oda Nobunaga killed Asai and Ichi's son in annoyance at Asai's betrayal and the misfortune that led to his own sister's death! Thereafter, Oda died and Ichi was forced into marriage by Hashiba Hideyoshi. Hashiba was the specific killer of her sons (one says this is not accurate, the two murdered sons were not Ichi's own), and Hashiba Hideyoshi has another name in our Chinese history books -- Toyotomi Hideyoshi, yes, that's right the guy nicknamed Monkey, so how could Ichi marry a monkey? This isn't Beauty and the Beast. So Ichi marries Shibata Katsuya, a veteran general. Eventually, Hashiba Hideyoshi defeats Shibata Katsuya and claims Ichi. Ichi commits suicide with Shibata Katsuya.

Tamako Hosokawa was born into a maelstrom. Her father was a traitor who killed Oda Nobunaga, and she was married to Hosokawa Tadahide by Oda Nobunaga, who almost killed her as a sign of his loyalty, but then imprisoned her because he couldn't bear to let her go. After that, Hosokawa opposed her religious beliefs and threatened to kill her. The agitated Tamako Hosokawa fought against her fate, but in the end, her husband's political choices made her a bargaining chip for both sides. Tamako Hosokawa finally recited her own poem: "A flower is a flower, a man is a man" (equivalent to the Chinese phrase "The clear are clear, the turbid are turbid"), and ambushed her sword to kill herself at the age of thirty-six.