The Diary of Lady Murasaki, Paperback/Shikibu Murasaki

The Diary of Lady Murasaki records the daily life of the Heian era lady-in-waiting and writer, Murasaki Shikibu, author of The Tale of Genji. Most likely written between 1008 and 1010, the largest portion of the diary consists of descriptive passages of the birth of Empress Shoshi's (Akiko) children. Shorter vignettes chronicle the author's life at the Imperial court, interactions between imperial ladies-in-waiting and with court writers such as Izumi Shikibu, Akazome Emon and Sei Shonagon. The work was written in kana, then a newly developed writing system that brought vernacular Japanese from a spoken language to a written language.