Doji Mioko

Doji Mioko was the daughter of a fisherman and the wife of the first Emperor Hantei, becoming Hantei Mioko. She was as beautiful as the stars on a clear night, and fish would come to the side of the boat when she sang, making fishing very easy for her father. Way of the Crane, p. 109
== Hantei's search for a bride ==
The story goes that Hantei searched the entire lands for a wife. When he arrived in Crane lands the Crane searched frantically for the most beautiful women they could find to gain the Emperor's approval. They searched a small village called Ikieto, but found only old women. The samurai left without knowing that the a fisherman had heard of their impending arrival and hidden his daughter, Mioko, on a small island far from the village. Meanwhile the Emperor was shown beautiful and honorable women, but none stirred his heart. One day he was riding through the lands of the Crane, seeking sport and amusement when he got separated from his entourage. He found himself on the ocean shore, where he heard a haunting melody on the wind. He told the Crane of the voice, and they took him to Ikieto and commanded the fishermen there to take the Emperor to the island. The Emperor found nothing on the island, and returned to the palace empty handed. Mioko had been hiding in a cave on the island, and asked her father about the young man he had taken out to the island. He lied, saying it was a beggar, but that night she penned a haiku, and attached it to the leg of her pet bird and sent it in hopes of reaching the "beggar". The same night the Emperor heard a disturbance in the bushes and found a white dove entangled in the branches. He read the poem and decided then and there that the girl who had written the poem was the one he would marry. The fisherman attempted to pass off a simple maiden of his village as the girl who had written the poem, but the Emperor saw through the farce when he asked the girl to compose a new poem. Demanding the fisherman tell him who the real girl was the fisherman told him about his daughter. The Emperor was again taken out to the island, and when he finally saw Mioko he cried Jade Tears. The pair were wed, and the island was named for the fisherman's lost daughter. Way of the Crane, pp. 109-110 The wedding was dated in the year 26. Imperial Histories, p. 15
=== Children ===
Hantei and Mioko had several children. The eldest was Hantei Genji, who succeeded his father as Emperor. Another, one of the youngest of Hantei's sons, was Otomo Yamato. Yamato was the first of Genji's siblings to take the Otomo name, beginnig the tradition of siblings of the Imperial Heir taking the Otomo name. Winter Court: Kyuden Seppun, p. 38
=== Gift ===
Mioko made the Ancestral Robe of the Hantei, not woven on a loom, but stitched together by hand with the finest spider silk. Way of the Unicorn, p. 103
Category:Crane Clan Members
Hantei Mioko