The Tosa diary
Author(s)
Bibliographic Information
The Tosa diary
(Tuttle classics)
Tuttle Pub., 1981
Bilingual ed
- : For sale in Japan only
- Other Title
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土佐日記
Available at 26 libraries
  Aomori
  Iwate
  Miyagi
  Akita
  Yamagata
  Fukushima
  Ibaraki
  Tochigi
  Gunma
  Saitama
  Chiba
  Tokyo
  Kanagawa
  Niigata
  Toyama
  Ishikawa
  Fukui
  Yamanashi
  Nagano
  Gifu
  Shizuoka
  Aichi
  Mie
  Shiga
  Kyoto
  Osaka
  Hyogo
  Nara
  Wakayama
  Tottori
  Shimane
  Okayama
  Hiroshima
  Yamaguchi
  Tokushima
  Kagawa
  Ehime
  Kochi
  Fukuoka
  Saga
  Nagasaki
  Kumamoto
  Oita
  Miyazaki
  Kagoshima
  Okinawa
  Korea
  China
  Thailand
  United Kingdom
  Germany
  Switzerland
  France
  Belgium
  Netherlands
  Sweden
  Norway
  United States of America
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KOKUSHIKAN UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION COMMONS本館
: For sale in Japan only915.32||Ki 45809384
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Note
"First Tuttle edition" -- T.p. verso
"Bilingual edition" -- Cover
"日本語原文付" -- Spine
Description and Table of Contents
Description
The Tosa Diary represents the oldest extant Japanese prose fiction and the beginnings of the great tradition of diary literature. Written in 935, the book is the record of an arduous 55-day 200-mile journey by sea from Tosa, where the author had served as a governor, to Kyoto, the capital.
Narrated in the first person by a female persona, it provides modern readers not only with a fascinating look at Japanese life and travel in the tenth century but also an insight into the author's humanity and stylistic excellence. Though the author's other writings were known for their ornateness, this diary is written with an artless simplicity and quiet humor which is as welcome as it is unexpected from a nobleman of the period. His sufferings from seasickness, his grief for the loss of a minor, his pride when his little daughter composes a verse in reply to that of a visitor whom he evidently dislike, his own verses that he cannot resist quoting, and his way of deprecating the verses of others, as well as many other details, supply a very human touch.
This engaging translation includes an introduction and notes by the translator as well as the original Japanese in Romanisation.
by "Nielsen BookData"