更級日記 (Heian period memoir) Add a review

The Sarashina Diary (更級日記, Sarashina Nikki) is a memoir written by the daughter of Sugawara no Takasue, a lady-in-waiting of Heian-period Japan. Her work stands out for its descriptions of her travels and pilgrimages and is unique in the literature of the period, as well as one of the first in the genre of travel writing. Lady Sarashina was a niece on her mother's side of Michitsuna's mother, author of another famous diary of the period, the Kagerō Nikki (whose personal name has also been lost). Other than the Sarashina Diary, she may also have authored Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari, Mizukara kuyuru (Self-reproach), the Tale of Nezame (Yoru no Nezame or Yowa no Nezame), and the Tale of Asakura.

This work is one of the major six literary memoir/diaries written in the mid-Heian period, roughly from 900 to 1100. Lady Sarashina wrote her work while being conscious of her distinguished lineage. She had a desire to produce something that would be worthy for her family line. This desire came from her knowledge that the autobiographical writing by women around her generation had achieved fame, which assisted the careers of the writers and their family lines. Her intention is demonstrated in her text as there is evidence of careful editing, aimed to be left for literary merits.

Extracts from the work are part of Japanese high school students' classical Japanese studies.