Tosa Nikki

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Tosa Diary (Tosa Nikki)

***** Location: Japan
***** Season: Non-seasonal Topic
***** Category: Humanity

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Explanation

Tosa Nikki 土佐日記 Tosa Diary

by
Ki no Tsurayuki 紀貫之
872-945)


Nikki bungaku (日記文学) is a genre of Japanese diary literature including prominent works such as the Tosa Nikki, Kagerō Nikki, and Murasaki Shikibu Nikki. While diaries began as records imitating daily logs kept by Chinese government officials, private and literary diaries emerged and flourished during the Heian period (794-1192 AD).

Although scholars have found diaries dating back to the eighth century, most of those were mere records kept on daily matters of state. At that time, Japan looked to China as a model of culture and civilization and sought to copy Chinese official government diaries. Thus, early Japanese diaries were factual, written in Chinese characters, and influenced by official, male perspectives.
Ki no Tsurayuki (872?-945), a famed poet and author, is credited with writing the first literary diary.

His Tosa Nikki, written in 935, records his journey from Tosa in Shikoku to Kyoto through the alleged perspective of a female companion. Departing from the tradition of diaries written in Chinese, Tsurayuki used vernacular Japanese characters, waka poetry, and a female narrator to convey the emotional aspects of the journey.
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Ki no Tsurayuki
was a Japanese author, poet and courtier of the Heian period.

Tsurayuki was a son of Ki no Mochiyuki. He became a waka poet in the 890s. In 905, under the order of Emperor Daigo, he was one of four poets selected to compile the Kokin Wakashū, an anthology of poetry.

After holding a few offices in Kyoto, he was appointed the provincial governor of Tosa province and stayed there from 930 until 935. Later he was presumably appointed the provincial governor of Suo province, since it was recorded that he held a waka party (Utaai) at his home in Suo.

He is well-known for his waka and is counted as one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals selected by Fujiwara no Kinto. He was also known as one of the editors of the Kokin Wakashū. Tsurayuki wrote one of two prefaces to Kokin Wakashū; the other is in Chinese. His preface was the first critical essay on waka. He wrote of its history from its mythological origin to his contemporary waka, which he grouped into genres, referred to some major poets and gave a bit of harsh criticism to his predecessors like Ariwara no Narihira.

His waka is included in one of the important Japanese poetry anthologies, the Hyakunin Isshu, which was compiled in the 13th century by Fujiwara no Teika, long after Tsurayuki's death.

Besides the Kokin Wakashū and its preface, Tsurayuki's major literary work was the Tosa nikki (土佐日記) (Tosa Diary), which was written using kana.
The text details a trip in 935 returning to Kyoto from Tosa province, where Tsurayuki had been the provincial governor.
Most researchers have long believed that Tsurayuki impersonated a woman, because they assume that kana was usually by women in the Heian Period.
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Die alte Provinz Tosa
Tosa ist der alte Name der heutigen Präfektur Koochi. Tosa war in früheren Zeiten über die steilen Berge von Zentral-Shikoku kaum zu erreichen und der einfachste Zugang war mit dem Schiff. In dem bekannten „Tagebuch von Tosa“ beschreibt Ki no Tsurayuki (872-945) den fünfjährigen Aufenthalt des Statthalters von Tosa in diesem Hinterland und seine Reise zur Hauptstadt Kyoto, allerdings aus der Sicht einer Hofdame gesehen. Dieses Tagebuch ist eines der ersten seiner Art in der japanischen Tagebuch-Literaturgeschichte.
Dank seiner Abgelegenheit war Tosa auch die Endstation einiger Adeliger, die ins Exil geschickt wurden und so ihre höfische Kultur mit in diese Gegend brachten.
Gabi Greve



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Things found on the way

Sweets from Tosa





銘菓「土佐日記」饅頭 Manju



WASHOKU : Dishes from Kochi (Koochi　高知)


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HAIKU




土佐日記懐にあり散る桜
Tosa Nikki futokoro ni ari chiru sakura

in my breast pocket
I carry the "Tosa Diary" -
cherry blossoms fall

Takahama Kyoshi 虚子

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Related words

***** Food from Tosa

***** Museum Haiku about famous Paintings

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