Kōkyū

is the section of a Japanese Imperial Palace called the where the Imperial Family and court ladies lived.

Many cultured women gathered as wives of Emperors, and court ladies, as well as the maids for these women; court officials often visited these women for influence, literary charm, or romances. Significant contributions to the literature of Japan were created in the Kōkyū during this period: works such as The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, and many anthologies of waka poems.