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5 unusual facts about The Pillow Book


Honkadori

Allusion to Sei Shōnagon's assertion in The Pillow Book that evening is the most beautiful moment of an autumn day.

Japanese poetry

The Pillow Book and Tale of Genji, from the early 11th century, provide us with examples of the life of aristocrats in the court of Emperor Ichijō and his empresses.

Lesser Cuckoo

In Japan, the bird is called hototogisu (ホトトギス) and is frequently praised for its song, and ranked as her favorite bird by Sei Shonagon in her account of court life in Heian Japan, The Pillow Book.

The Pillow Book

There is a 1996 film of the same name by writer/director Peter Greenaway, which tells a modern story but references Sei Shōnagon's literary work.

The Pillow Book is also the name of a series of radio thrillers written by Robert Forrest and broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour Drama.


Fujiwara clan

Three late tenth century and early eleventh century women presented their views of life and romance at the Heian court in Kagerō Nikki ("The Gossamer Years") by "the mother of Michitsuna", Makura no Sōshi (The Pillow Book) by Sei Shōnagon, and Genji Monogatari (Tale of Genji) by Murasaki Shikibu (herself a Fujiwara).

Ken Ogata

Ogata is well known for his roles in Peter Greenaway's The Pillow Book, Paul Schrader's Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters and Shohei Imamura's The Ballad of Narayama.

Walter Hus

He wrote film scores for Suite Sixteen (Dominique Deruddere) and The Pillow Book (Peter Greenaway); toured the world with his ensemble Maximalist and wrote and performed for theatre and ballet (amongst others Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker, Wim Vandekeybus, Roxanne Huilmand, Needcompany, Discordia, Beukelaars, Kortekaas, Ritsema).


see also