The Rest Is History
561. The Golden Age of Japan: Secrets of the Imperial Court (Part 2)
30 Apr 2025
In the vibrant but vicious golden age of Imperial Japan, how did women use writing as a way to secure their status, and express their deepest desires? Who was Sei Shōnagon, the witty courtier whose account of life around the Japanese Empress during the iconic Heian period, provides a scintillating insight into this colourful world? And, behind the sophisticated melee of the Imperial court, with its elegance and decorum, what risks and hazards haunted every aspiring courtier…? Join Tom and Dominic for the climax to their tantalising journey into the beating heart of Imperial Japan, and the remarkable woman whose moving, keenly perceptive, but also slyly venomous, insights into this complicated arena, bring it flamboyantly to life. The Rest Is History Club: Become a member for exclusive bonus content, early access to full series and live show tickets, ad-free listening, our exclusive newsletter, discount book prices on titles mentioned on the pod, and our members’ chatroom on Discord. Just head to therestishistory.com to sign up, or start a free trial today on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/therestishistory. For more Goalhanger Podcasts, head to www.goalhanger.com _______ Twitter: @TheRestHistory @holland_tom @dcsandbrook Producer: Theo Young-Smith Assistant Producer: Tabby Syrett + Aaliyah Akude Executive Producers: Jack Davenport + Tony Pastor Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Full Episode
Thank you for listening to The Rest Is History. For weekly bonus episodes, ad-free listening, early access to series, and membership of our much-loved chat community, go to therestishistory.com and join the club. That is therestishistory.com. In spring, the dawn, when the slowly paling mountain rim is tinged with red and wisps of faintly crimson-purple cloud float in the sky.
In summer, the night. Moonlit nights, of course, but also at the dark of the moon. It's beautiful when fireflies are dancing everywhere in a mazy flight. And it's delightful to see just one or two fly through the darkness, glowing softly. Rain falling on a summer night is also lovely.
In autumn, the evening, the blazing sun has sunk very close to the mountain rim and now even the crows in threes and fours or twos and threes hurrying to their roost are a moving sight. Still more enchanting is the sight of a string of wild geese in the distant sky, very tiny.
And oh, how inexpressible, when the sun has sunk, to hear in the growing darkness the wind and the song of autumn insects. In winter, the early morning, if snow is falling, of course, it's unutterably delightful. But it's perfect too if there's a pure white frost, or even just when it's very cold and they hasten to build up the fires in the braziers and carry in fresh charcoal.
But it's unpleasant as the day draws on and the air grows warmer, how the brazier fire dies down to white ash. So that, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the most famous passages in all Japanese literature. I would argue one of the most extraordinary passages of prose you will ever read.
It is the beginning of a really, really remarkable and original masterpiece called The Pillow Book, which was written in the early years of the 11th century in what is now Kyoto. And Tom, we talked last time about the great Japanese classic, The Tale of Genji. This was written round about the same time in what was then called Heian-kyo. And as with the tale of Genji, its author was a woman.
Yes. The woman was called, say, Shonagon. And Murasaki Shikibu, the author of the tale of Genji... knew Seishonagon and didn't like her. So she wrote in her diary, Seishonagon was dreadfully conceited. She thought herself so clever and littered her writings with Chinese characters. But if you examine them closely, they left a great deal to be desired.
So like a kind of negative review of our podcast. Left by the hosts of an inferior Goldhanger podcast. No doubt. Although, of course, I mean, you know, Murasaki and Seishonagon are both transcendent geniuses. Right. So actually the analogy doesn't work at all. It breaks down there.
Yeah.
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