According to the Man'yōshū ("The Anthology of Ten Thousand Leaves"), she became the first Saiō to serve at Ise Grand Shrine.
After the death of her brother Prince Ōtsu in 686, she returned from Ise to Yamato to enshrine his remains on Mt.
Oku was born on the 8th Day of the 1st Month of the Saimei's era 7 (661), in the cabin of the Imperial ship which dropped anchor in the sea of Ōku on the Empress Kōgyoku's way to Kyushu.
On the 9th Day of the 10th Month of the Tenmu's era 3 (674), when she was twelve, she was appointed the Saiō by her father, Emperor Tenmu, and sent to the Saikū near Ise Shrine and spent thirteen years there as the Saiō to serve the Goddess Amaterasu that dwelt in the shrine.
Her only known work by her vow was the foundation of a temple of Natsumi at the Nabari district in the province of Iga.