Role: Special Events Associate at the Japan Society of Boston
Assistant: Joanne, Communications Associate
Overview
Focus on the Kagero Diary or Kagero Nikki
Authored by the mother of Michitsuna
Translated by Edward Seidensticker
Diary is split into three books
Key Figures
Lady Kagero: Referring to the mother of Michitsuna, given this name for a traditional unnamed author naming convention
Fujiwara: Lady Kagero's husband, significant historical figure
Edward Seidensticker: Translator, funded by the CIA in 1953
Aimed to humanize Japanese culture post-WWII
Re-edited version was funded by UNESCO in the 1960s
Important Historical Context
Fujiwara Regency:
One of the first significant Fujiwara regents
Father of Michitsuna and Fujiwara no Michinaga
Michinaga was a powerful regent, potentially commissioned the Tale of Genji
Murasaki Shikibu wrote the Tale of Genji, linked to Michinaga's daughter
Literary Significance
Kagero Diary:
Among the first Japanese prose works by a woman
Known for realism, narrative, and imagery
Seen as a critique of the marriage system and men's behavior at the time
Notable Quotes
From Seidensticker's introduction: "This diary is in a sense the mother of Michitsuna's protest against the marriage system of the time and her exposition of the thesis that men are beasts."
Cultural Significance
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu: Collection of 100 poems
Mother of Michitsuna's Poem:
Poem 53: "Do you know how slow the dawn can be when you have to wait alone."
Represents her literary legacy
Additional Resources
Map of Secondary Characters:
Includes their literary and historical names
Major Events List:
Courtship beginning
Father's exile
"Lady of the Alley" incidents
Terminology
Kagero Niki:
Named from a line in the diary "a shimmering of the summer sky"