Skip to main content

Primary sourceBook1920

Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

Annie Shepley Omori · 1920

An English translation collecting Murasaki Shikibu's court diary together with the diaries of other Heian court women, published in 1920.

This 1920 translated anthology includes Murasaki Shikibu's own diary, making her words available to English readers.

Ask Murasaki Shikibu about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Full text (Internet Archive)

About this source

What it is

This 1920 book, translated by Annie Shepley Omori and Kochi Doi with an introduction by poet Amy Lowell, brings together English translations of several Heian-era court diaries, including that of Murasaki Shikibu, alongside those of Izumi Shikibu and the author of the Sarashina diary. It was digitized from the Ohio State University Libraries' Brittle Books program.

Why it matters

By placing Murasaki Shikibu's diary next to those of other court ladies, the book lets readers compare the voices and experiences of women writing in the same period and setting. It made these primary Japanese texts accessible to English-speaking readers in the early 20th century.

Look closer

  • Why might translators note that wordplay and poetry are hard to carry over into English?
  • What might be gained or lost by reading Murasaki's diary alongside other women's diaries rather than alone?
  • Who decided which diaries to include, and why might that matter?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Murasaki Shikibu on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Murasaki Shikibu sources

Meet the AI Murasaki Shikibu →
Fragment of a decorated handscroll page with black calligraphic Japanese script running in vertical columns on gold-flecked paper with dark green and gold scattered patches and faint grass-like brushstrokes. A printed caption in the lower right reads in Japanese.Book

Primary source

The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1010

Open double-page spread of a Japanese manuscript with gold and silver flecks scattered on brown-orange and dark mauve paper. Black cursive kana calligraphy runs in vertical columns on both pages.Book

Primary source

Kokin Wakashū

Ki no Tsurayuki and compilers · c. 905-920

Diary entry

Primary source

The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1008–1010

Scan of a page of handwritten Japanese cursive calligraphy in brown ink on pale paper, written in vertical columns. This is the final part of the Tosa Nikki diary, copied by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century.Diary entry

Primary source

Tosa Nikki

Ki no Tsurayuki · 935 (copy 13th century)

Photograph of the front cover of a Japanese book bound in pale green-grey paper. A vertical cream label on the cover bears brush-written Japanese characters and a small seal-like stamp appears at lower left. A color calibration chart and a metric ruler are along the edges of the image.Book

Secondary source

Eiri Genji Monogatari

Yamamoto Shunshō · 1650

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Murasaki Shikibu now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions