In Japan, the diary has acquired the status of a literary genre comparable in importance to the novel and the literary essay. Donald Keene, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as "the century's leading expert on Japanese literature," presents a collection of pre-modern Japanese diaries that is both a literary history of this seminal genre and a source of insight into Japanese life of the last thousand years.

PrefaceIntroductionHeian DiariesThe Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Buddhist LawThe Tosa DiaryThe Gossamer YearsThe Master of the HutThe Izumi Shikibu DiaryThe Murasaki Shikibu DiaryThe Sarashina DiaryThe Tale of the Tonomine CaptainThe Collection of the Mother of Jojin, the AjariThe Sanuki no Suke DiaryChuyukiPoetry Collections and Poem TalesThe Poetic Memoirs of Lady DaibuDiaries of the Kamakura PeriodChronicle of the Bright MoonThe Diary of Minamoto IenagaThe Visit of the Emperor Takakura to ItsukushimaThe Ascension to Heaven of the Late Emperor TakakuraJourney Along the Seacoast RoadThe Diary of the Priest ShinshoA Journey East of the BarrierFitful SlumbersThe Diary of the Waning MoonThe Diary of Asukai MasaariThe Diary ofLady BenThe Diary of Lady NakatsukasaThe Confessions of Lady NijoAccount of the Takemuki PalaceDiaries of the Muromachi PeriodAccount of a Pilgrimage to the Great Shrine of Ise Gifts from the CapitalGifts from the CapitalReciting Poetry to Myself at OjimaPilgrimage to SumiyoshiThe Visit to Itsukushima of the Lord of the Deer ParkA Source of ConsolationJourney to FujiJourney to Zenko-jiAccount of FujikawaJourney to ShirakawaJourney Along the Tsukushi RoadAccount of Sogi's Last HoursAccount of UtsunoyamaSocho's NotebookA Pilgrimage to YoshinoJourney to See Fuji