Tosa Nikki

The Tosa Nikki (土佐日記 – Tosa Diary), written in 935AD by Ki no Tsurayuki, is an account (punctuated by poems throughout) of his journey home to Kyoto.

As he writes as a women the first line of his diary reads:

‘it is generally a man who writes what is called a Diary, but now a woman will see what she can do.’

’男もすなる日記といふものを、女もしてみむとてするなり.’

Throughout he includes poetic verses, and all but two of them are written in tanka verse (5-7-5-7-7)

At a distance of 200 miles, the account states it took 55 days in total to reach his destination, though there were several delays including a ten day delay in Ōminato. The journey was seen to be leisurely, camping on shore at night, remaining there if the weather look dangerous the next morning.

The book was described by Aston (1899) as:

‘its only merit is that it describes in simple yet elegant language, and with a vein of playful humor, the ordinary life of a traveler… This has proven sufficient to give it a high rank among st Japanese classics… It has been followed by many imitations, but has had no equal.’¹

Footnotes

1. Porter, W.N. (1981) ”The Tosa Diary by Ki no Tsurayuki”. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.

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• • Period: Heian Period
  • Occupation: Poet, Governor
  • Family: Ki no Tokibumi (son) Ki no Tomonori (cousin)
  • Birth: –
  • Death: 946AD

Ki no Tsurayuki

Ki no Tsurayuki (紀 貫之) was a high ranking court nobleman of the Heian Period. Best known for his poetry and prose. He was the cousin of Ki no Tomonori² and the father of Ki no Tokibumi.³ He died in 946AD¹

Between the years of 905 and 922AD he helped in the compilation of the Kokinshū, where he wrote the preface.¹

In the preface he criticises Ariwara no Narihira stating:

• • His feelings are too strong; his words, insufficient. His poetry is, so to speak, a faded flower in which a fragrance lingers.⁴

He is also known to have devised the list known as the Six Poetic Geniuses, a list of six poets who were seen as the best poets of the Heian Period.²

In 930AD he was appointed the Governor of Tosa Province, in Shikoku.

However, his most notable achievement was the creation of his Diary known as the Tosa Nikki, which he wrote in 935AD. His Diary recounts his 55 day day journey home the the capital of Kyoto. The writing style is interesting as he writes under the persona of a woman, and so only writes phonetically (ie. in Kana) as this was known as the ‘women’s language.’ Due to this he refers to himself in the 3rd person through the text.

Poems of his were included in the Wakan rōeishū⁴ and Gosenshū.³

Footnotes

1. Porter, W.N. (1981) ”The Tosa Diary by Ki no Tsurayuki”. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.
2. MacMillan, P. (2018) ”One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each: A Treasury of Classical Japanese Verse”. St. Ives: Penguin Classics.
3. Louis Frederic, translated by Kathe Roth (2002) “Japan Encyclopedia”. London: Harvard University Press.
4. Kodansha. (1993) ”Japan: An Illustrated Encyclopedia”. Tokyo: Kodansha Ltd.

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