, also known as Takasue's Daughter and Lady Sarashina, was a Japanese noble woman, poet, and author best known for writing the Sarashina Nikki, a Heian period travel diary recording her life and travels from her teenage years to her fifties. She is also attributed by some scholars as the author of Hamamatsu Chūnagon Monogatari and Yoru no Nezame. Her personal name is unknown.
Name
"Sugawara no Takasue no musume" is literally translated as "daughter of Sugawara no Takasue". In ancient Japanese society, women's personal names were generally not recorded in genealogical records.
Her surname distinguishes her as a direct descendant of Sugawara no Michizane, a prominent statesman, scholar, and poet of the Heian period.
In the Heian period, there was a cultural practice of avoiding the use of personal names, as people feared someone could control them by a message sent to their true name with the power of kotodama. The general belief was nobody could control a person with the power of kotodama unless their true name had been revealed. Therefore, the true names of Heian women writers were not disclosed even in their own writing.
Life
Most of Takasue's Daughter's life is known from her entries in the Sarashina Nikki. However, the diary itself does not note specific dates nor proper names. An annotated copy of the diary handwritten by Fujiwara no Teika provides reliable historical information on dates and names.
Early life and family
Takasue's Daughter was born in Kyoto in approximately 1008. Her father was Sugawara no Takasue, who later became the provincial governor of Kazusa and Hitachi Provinces. Her mother was a younger sister of Michitsuna's mother, the author of the Kagero Nikki.
From ages ten to thirteen, she lived in Kazusa Province, where her father was serving as provincial governor. When she was approximately twelve years old, she began recording a daily account of her events which would later become known as the Sarashina Nikki. In 1020, as her father's term in Kazusa Province expired, her family returned to Kyoto and lived in a large residence on Sanjo Street until 1023, when the house burned down. According to her diary, her family started living in temporary places. The following year in 1024, her elder sister died in childbirth and in 1025, Sugawara no Takasue failed to obtain a provincial governorship, meaning a period of financial difficulty for the family.
In 1032 when she was approximately 25, her father received a provincial governor posting in Hitachi, where he served for 4 years. As his posting was far away in the East Country, she stayed with her mother in the capital. After Takasue moved back to Kyoto, her mother became a nun but remained in the household. It is presumed that Takasue's daughter assumed duties of mistress of the household for her retired father.