01813    a2200277   4500001001100000005001700011008003900028020001800067037003600085040000700121041000800128072001500136072001300151072002100164072002200185100001900207245004100226250000600267260003200273300001000305520112200315700002901437700002601466700002001492700002301512113896764520250317100357.0250312042016GB                   eng    a9781138967649  bTaylor & FranciscGBP 45.99fBB  a01  aeng7 aJHM2thema7 aJHM2bic7 aSOC0020002bisac7 a895.6814032bisac1 aLady Sarashina10aDiaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan  a1  aOxfordbRoutledgec20160808  a264 p  bThe Heian period (794-1186AD) of Japanese history - the setting of The Tale of Genji - was an era of unsurpassed refinement in art and literature, in which women played a unique role. Dominated by the mighty Fujiwara clan, the Japanese court was the bright centre of a world in which rare and exquisite taste in poetry, art, calligraphy, dress, incense, colour, even the selection of gifts, was cultivated to an amazing degree. This gossamer veil of beauty masked another reality of political intrigue and passionate rivalries which intensified the heady atmosphere of a court in which flirtations and love affairs were endemic. Cultivated and artistic women held a privileged position at court, and they perfected the literary genre of diaries that combined subtlety, strength and starkness in their depictions of life in this enclosed and dream-like world. These diaries are among the jewels of Japanese literature and three are presented here - The Sarashina Diary, the Diary of Izumi Shikibu and the Diary of Murasaki Shikibu - with an introduction by the poet Amy Lowell, an early admirer of Japanese literature.1 aAnnie Shepley Omori4B011 aMurasaki Shikibu4A011 aKoichi Doi4B011 aIzumi Shikibu4A01