WRITER

Sei Shōnagon

966 - 1025

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Sei Shōnagon (清少納言, c. 966 – 1017 or 1025) was a Japanese author, poet, and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi (Sadako) around the year 1000 during the middle Heian period. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Sei Shōnagon has received more than 231,646 page views. Her biography is available in 50 different languages on Wikipedia. Sei Shōnagon is the 432nd most popular writer (up from 621st in 2019), the 46th most popular biography from Japan (up from 75th in 2019) and the 10th most popular Japanese Writer.

Sei Shōnagon is most famous for her work "The Pillow Book" which is a collection of short essays, anecdotes, and observations about life at the imperial court.

Memorability Metrics

  • 230k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 75.16

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 50

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 3.71

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.56

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

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Among WRITERS

Among writers, Sei Shōnagon ranks 432 out of 5,794. Before her are Fausto Cercignani, Mika Waltari, Percy Fawcett, Alfred de Musset, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Andrzej Sapkowski. After her are Kurt Vonnegut, Alexander Pope, Heinrich von Kleist, Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux, Léopold Sédar Senghor, and Joseph Brodsky.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 966, Sei Shōnagon ranks 1. After her are Bjarni Herjólfsson, Rogneda of Polotsk, and Fujiwara no Michinaga. Among people deceased in 1025, Sei Shōnagon ranks 3. Before her are Basil II and Bolesław I the Brave. After her are Hugh Magnus and Muhammad III of Córdoba.

Others Born in 966

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Others Deceased in 1025

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Sei Shōnagon ranks 46 out of 5,560. Before her are Takeda Shingen (1521), Yoshinori Ohsumi (1945), Soichiro Honda (1906), Chūichi Nagumo (1887), Yayoi Kusama (1929), and Osamu Dazai (1909). After her are Tadao Ando (1941), Yasujirō Ozu (1903), Emperor Kōmei (1831), Minamoto no Yoritomo (1147), Itō Hirobumi (1841), and Liv Ullmann (1938).

Others born in Japan

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Among WRITERS In Japan

Among writers born in Japan, Sei Shōnagon ranks 10. Before her are Murasaki Shikibu (973), Yukio Mishima (1925), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), Kenzaburō Ōe (1935), Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892), and Osamu Dazai (1909). After her are Natsume Sōseki (1867), Kazuo Ishiguro (1954), Kōbō Abe (1924), Masaru Emoto (1943), Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886), and Mori Ōgai (1862).

Japanese born Writers

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