Poetry of the Heian Period

Poetry had a very large role in narrative prose of the Heian period. During the Heian period poetry was a way that people showed their worth or status. Men and women would write poems to one another in order to attract the other and win their love. Poetry was mixed in with prose to add to the stories and display the overwhelming value of poetry in Japanese society. With the shift from poetry to prose, long tales and stories were able to be passed down in Japan helping to shape the Japanese culture. Two types of prose in particular that had major roles were nikki and monogatari.

During the Heian period, which lasted from 794 to 1195, government officials started to keep personal journals which they called nikki. These were not daily writings but rather they were later recollections of events so they contained further analysis of what had happened. The fact that it was not written every day is a plus and a minus on the nikki. On the down side the person keeping the journal might forget something that happened which would lead to them not being able to document an event or document it accurately. On the other hand, by waiting to document an event, the author is able to analyze the events that have happened completely and put a much deeper personal insight into what they feel about the event. The nikki is also very interesting in the fact that it can give the author a chance to sometimes see the consequences of certain actions or events fully play out and then give commentary on the entire situation. Along with waiting to write down the events, when writing a nikki, and author would usually use different writing styles such as third person or a narrative. This would give the nikki the feel of being a story or a work...

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...n this form and different beliefs can shine through in the stories that they contain. Nikki are good for being able to understand what certain individuals were thinking back in the Hein period but they are not as rich with Japanese folk lore as the monogatari are in my opinion. Although both are excellent resources for studying Japanese history, I get the feel that the flaw with both of them is the overall accuracy. Some nikki are written where the author takes on a different persona while many monogatari depict events that are fictional. They are great for getting a sense of the era and understanding the different writing styles but ate the same time are the most reliable of sources for history.

Works Cited

Encyclopedia of Japan, available through Japan Knowledge. “Handout 5 – monogatari, Ise

monogatari, Taketori monogatari”. 2011.