WRITER

Sei Shōnagon

966 - 1025

Photo of Sei Shōnagon

Icon of person Sei Shōnagon

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 427,342 page views. Her biography is available in 56 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 52 in 2019). Sei Shōnagon is the 677th most popular writer (down from 510th in 2019), the 106th most popular biography from Japan (down from 64th in 2019) and the 14th 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

  • 430k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 64.56

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 56

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.93

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 6.26

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Pillow Book
Japan
19804 / 5
Makura no soshi (Kanyaku Nihon no koten)
1984
Makura no sōshi
1917
The pillow book
Biography & Autobiography
A new translation of the idiosyncratic diary of a C10 court lady in Heian Japan. Along with the TALE OF GENJI, this is one of the major Japanese Classics.
1967
The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon
2005
The sketch book of the Lady Sei Shōnagon
Japan
1930

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Sei Shōnagon ranks 677 out of 7,302. Before her are Carlo Gozzi, Douglas Adams, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lawrence Durrell, Marie de France, and Maurice Blanchot. After her are Bernard Gui, André Chénier, Novatian, Phillis Wheatley, Derek Walcott, and Joseph of Anchieta.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 966, Sei Shōnagon ranks 1. After her are Bjarni Herjólfsson, Fujiwara no Michinaga, and Rogneda of Polotsk. Among people deceased in 1025, Sei Shōnagon ranks 3. Before her are Basil II, and Bolesław I the Brave. After her are Hugh Magnus, Matilda of Germany, Countess Palatine of Lotharingia, Muhammad III of Córdoba, Burchard of Worms, Al-Qadi Abd al-Jabbar, Al-Qasim al-Ma'mun, Helena, and Eustathius of Constantinople.

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 106 out of 6,245. Before her are Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835), Empress Meishō (1624), Sugawara no Michizane (845), Joan Fontaine (1917), Kunishige Kamamoto (1944), and Hiroto Muraoka (1931). After her are Okita Sōji (1842), Emperor Go-Momozono (1758), Kenji Mizoguchi (1898), Emperor Kōshō (-505), Fumimaro Konoe (1891), and Abe no Seimei (921).

Others born in Japan

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Among WRITERS In Japan

Among writers born in Japan, Sei Shōnagon ranks 14. Before her are Kenzaburō Ōe (1935), Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892), Natsume Sōseki (1867), Kazuo Ishiguro (1954), Kōbō Abe (1924), and Sugawara no Michizane (845). After her are Jun'ichirō Tanizaki (1886), Masaru Emoto (1943), Zeami Motokiyo (1363), Kobayashi Issa (1763), Shoko Asahara (1955), and Mori Ōgai (1862).

Japanese born Writers

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