Mei no iratsume (姪娘)

Mei no iratsume (year of birth and death unknown) was a daughter of SOGANOKURA-YAMADA no Ishikawamaro.

She became a wife of Emperor Tenji (Emperor Tenchi) and gave birth to Minabe no Himemiko (Princess Minabe) and Ahe no Himemiko (Princess Ahe who became Empress Genmei). Ochi no iratume, who also became a wife of Emperor Tenji, was her older sister. Hitachi no iratsume, who was a daughter of SOGA no Akae and also became a wife of Emperor Tenji, and Onu no iratsume, who married Emperor Tenmu, were her cousins.

It is said that she raised two imperial princesses left after her sister's death as well as her own two daughters. For this reason, Princess Uno no Sarara (later, Empress Jito), one of her sister's daughters, took one of Mei no iratsume's daughters Princess Ahe (Empress Genmei) to a wife of her son Prince Kusakabe, and took the other daughter Minabe no Himemiko to a wife of her right arm Prince Takechi after Kusakabe's death.

[Original Japanese]