In relation to the work of Murasaki-shikibu, the term “diary” should be understood with some degree of convention, since Murasaki’s work is not so much daily notes as a kind of memoir about what worried her. These memories are organized largely according to the actual passage of time. But in the “Diary” there are also passages that cannot be attributed to time—discussions about the people surrounding Murasaki, childhood memories. In general, the “Diary” covers the period from 1008 to 1010.

The “Diary” of Murasaki-shikibu is a wonderful literary and human document of the era. It provides striking evidence of the culture of thought and feeling possessed by the Japanese aristocrats who lived at that time in Heian (modern Kyoto). Diaries and letters served them as the most important tool for self-knowledge, and therefore, knowledge of the world.