Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan
by Murasaki Shikibu Sugawara no Takasue no Musume Izumi Shikibu
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About This Book
Because women in ancient Japan enjoyed high status, they were well-educated and reasonably independent. They also produced much of the country's best literature. Three of these amazing ladies wrote these diaries, among them the highly skilled writer Murasaki Shikibu (ca. 973-1025 a.d.). A lady-in-waiting to the Japanese Empress, she became very adept at observing the daily activities and attitudes of the upper classes. Her diary is a remarkable record of events staged with rare and exquisite taste. The Sarashina Diary, filled with an appreciation of nature, begins with a nine-year-old girl's d...
Chapters (21)
- DIARIES OF COURT LADIES OF OLD JAPAN
- TRANSLATED BY
- ANNIE SHEPLEY OMORI
- AND
- KOCHI DOI
- Professor in the Imperial University, Tokio WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY AMY LOWELL And with Illustrations
- The Riverside Press Cambridge
- TRANSLATORS' NOTE
- INTRODUCTION
- DIARIES OF COURT LADIES OF OLD JAPAN
- I THE SARASHINA DIARY
- A.D. 1009-1059
- II
- THE DIARY OF MURASAKI SHIKIBU[1]
- A.D. 1007-1010
- III
- THE DIARY OF IZUMI SHIKIBU
- A.D. 1002-1003
- THE END
- APPENDIX A OLD JAPANESE CALENDAR
- B CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE DIARIES
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