Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism | Abutsu - Donald Keene (essay date 1985)

Donald Keene (essay date 1985)

SOURCE: “Diaries of the Kamakura Period,” in Japan Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 3, July-September, 1985, pp. 281-89.

[In the following essay, Keene examines two diaries: the Kaidoki, written by an unknown author, and Abutsu's Utatane, which he finds superior to her more celebrated Izayoi Nikki.]

KAIDōKI

The travel diaries of the Japanese medieval period most often had their origins in the writers' desire to visit places that were either of a specifically sacred character or were familiar because of frequent mentions in poetry. A special reason for travel during the Kamakura period was the presence of the government in Kamakura, a long distance from Kyoto, the site of the emperor's court. The inhabitants of Kyoto, long accustomed to thinking of their city as the focal center of all aspects of Japanese life, were dismayed that this was no longer true. They were also intrigued by...

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