[About the Book]
To trust the one she loved-and simply keep waiting.
That was the strength that sustained her life.

The setting is the Tenpyō era of Nara-period Japan. Abe no Nakamaro crossed the sea to Tang China as a student envoy, while his beloved, Mahoro no Iratsume, remained behind, praying and believing in his return.

Though separated by sea and nation, the two gazed up at the same moon, their hearts bound together as one.

Yet amid the political turmoil of Tang China and the power struggles of Japan, Nakamaro’s return never came to pass.
Through an age of upheaval marked by events such as the Nagayao no Hen (the Nagaya Prince Incident) and the Great Buddha Eye-Opening Ceremony at Tōdai-ji, Mahoro no Iratsume remains steadfast-caught between love, loyalty, and fate, yet never wavering in her prayers for Nakamaro’s safety and their reunion.

Years pass, and the one she waits for never returns.
Even so, there was a woman who chose to live by a love that believed.

A beautifully poignant historical romance set in ancient Japan-one that leaves a quiet light glowing deep in the reader’s heart the more it is read.

［Author’s Biography］
Yūko Nakatsu
Born in Asakusa, Taito Ward, Tokyo.
Graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University.
Member of the Japan PEN Club. Member of the Association of Haiku Poets
Books:
•    Man’yō no Hika (Sad Songs of the Man’yōshū) (Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha)
•    Kaguya-hime to Kodai-shi no Nazo (The Mystery of Princess Kaguya and Ancient History) (Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha)
•    Ichikawa no Rekishi (The History of Ichikawa) (Ichikawa Yomiuri Shimbunsha)
•    Man’yōshū de Yomu Kodai Sōran (Reading Ancient Conflicts through the Man’yōshū) (Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha)
•    Katsushika o Aruku (Walking in Katsushika) (NTT Publishing)
•    Shōsetsu Matsuo Bashō (Novel of Matsuo Bashō) (Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha), among others.
This book is an e-book based on Tenpyo no Bōkyōka (Songs of Nostalgia from the Tenpyo Era) published by Shinjinbutsu Ōraisha in 1993.