An uta makura: Ashita Fields were a belt of land in the north-west of modern Nara Prefecture, stretching from Ōtera-chō in Kita Katsuragi District into what is now Kashiba City. As the place name asita was homophonous with a word for ‘morning’, the location was often referred to in poems on that topic. It was renowned for the beauty of its spring mists and maidenflowers.