The is a memoir written by the daughter of Sugawara no Takasue, a lady-in-waiting of Heian-period Japan. Her work stands out for its descriptions of her travels and pilgrimages and is unique in the literature of the period, as well as one of the first in the genre of travel writing. Lady Sarashina was a niece on her mother's side of Michitsuna's mother, author of another famous diary of the period, the Kagerō Nikki (whose personal name has also been lost). Other than the Sarashina Diary, she also authored Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari, Mizukara kuyuru (Self-reproach), the Tale of Nezame (Yoru no Nezame or Yowa no Nezame), and the Tale of Asakura. This work is one of the major six literary memoir/diaries written in the mid-Heian period, roughly from 900 to 1100. Lady Sarashina wrote her work while being conscious of her distinguished lineage. She had a desire to produce something that would be worthy for her family line. This desire came from her knowledge that the autobiographical writing by women around her generation had achieved fame, which assisted the careers of the writers and their family lines. Her intention is demonstrated in her text as there are evidences of careful editing, aimed to be left for literary merits. Extracts from the work are part of Japanese high school students' classical Japanese studies. The author and the book The daughter of Sugawara Takasue (also known as Lady Sarashina) wrote her memoirs in her later years. She was born in 1008 CE and in her childhood traveled to the provinces with her father, an assistant governor, and back to the capital some years later. Her remembrances of the long journey back to the capital (three months) are unique in Heian literature, if terse and geographically inaccurate. Here she describes Mount Fuji, then an active volcano:It has a most unusual shape and seems to have been painted deep blue; its thick cover of unmelting snow gives the impression that the mountain is wearing a white jacket over a dress of deep violet. The Sarashina Diary recorded her life from the age of 12 to her fifties. Her memoirs start with her childhood days, when she delighted in reading tales, and prayed to be able to read the Tale of Genji from beginning to end. She records her joy when presented with a complete copy, and how she dreamed of living a romance like