In Japan, the diary has acquired the status of a literary genre comparable in importance to the novel and the literary essay. Donald Keene, hailed in the New York Times Book Review as "the century's leading expert on Japanese literature," presents a collection of pre-modern Japanese diaries that is both a literary history of this seminal genre and a source of insight into Japanese life of the last thousand years.

Ranging from objective to confessional, selections such as "The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu" and "Diaries of Seventeenth-Century Courtiers" are much more than mere narratives of events, and offer unparalleled glimpses into the lives of diverse writers from the Kamakura dynastic period to the Tokugawa period.

Travelers of a Hundred Ages illuminates the hidden and largely unknown worlds of imperial courts, Buddhist monasteries, country inns, and merchants' houses. It is at once an intimate account of the diarists' lives and a testimony to the greater struggles and advances of Japanese culture.

Preface
Introduction
Heian Diaries
The Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Buddhist Law
The Tosa Diary
The Gossamer Years
The Master of the Hut
The Izumi Shikibu Diary
The Murasaki Shikibu Diary
The Sarashina Diary
The Tale of the Tonomine Captain
The Collection of the Mother of Jojin, the Ajari
The Sanuki no Suke Diary
Chuyuki
Poetry Collections and Poem Tales
The Poetic Memoirs of Lady Daibu
Diaries of the Kamakura Period
Chronicle of the Bright Moon
The Diary of Minamoto Ienaga
The Visit of the Emperor Takakura to Itsukushima
The Ascension to Heaven of the Late Emperor Takakura
Journey Along the Seacoast Road
The Diary of the Priest Shinsho
A Journey East of the Barrier
Fitful Slumbers
The Diary of the Waning Moon
The Diary of Asukai Masaari
The Diary ofLady Ben
The Diary of Lady Nakatsukasa
The Confessions of Lady Nijo
Account of the Takemuki Palace
Diaries of the Muromachi Period
Account of a Pilgrimage to the Great Shrine of Ise Gifts from the Capital
Gifts from the Capital
Reciting Poetry to Myself at Ojima
Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi
The Visit to Itsukushima of the Lord of the Deer Park
A Source of Consolation
Journey to Fuji
Journey to Zenko-ji
Account of Fujikawa
Journey to Shirakawa
Journey Along the Tsukushi Road
Account of Sogi's Last Hours
Account of Utsunoyama
Socho's Notebook
A Pilgrimage to Yoshino
Journey to See Fuji

Donald Keene is Shincho Professor of Japanese Literature and University Professor Emeritus at Columbia University.