Audiobook: Tosa Diary

Ki no Tsurayuki was a Japanese waka poet of the Heian period. In 905, he was one of the poets ordered to compile the “Kokinshu – Collected Japanese Poems of Ancient and Modern Times”. He is also one of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals of Japan.

The Tosa Diary, written in 935, is considered the major work of Ki. It is an account of his return to the capital Kyoto from Tosa province, where he had served as governor since 930. The journey is by boat, and Ki no Tsurayuki tells about his sea sickness and fear of pirates, his impressions of the coast, and the various offerings to placate the gods of the sea. The Tosa Diary is written entirely in kana (the women’s alphabet) and contains many poems composed by Ki during the journey.