A soft wind is blowing, and the new leaves of the oak tree in my garden are moving gently. Sometimes cherry petals fall, and a small insect passes by. I hear the sound of an airplane far away, and a yellow butterfly moves slowly under it. A crow is calling, as if it wants to speak to someone. One way to keep this moment is to write it down.

Spring.

I wonder how Sei Shōnagon would describe this view from my window.

I finished reading The Pillow Book by Sei Shōnagon, translated by Sasaki Wakako.

The whole book is written in modern Japanese, so it is very easy to read.

Sometimes she writes sharp comments about people. Sometimes she says honestly, “The hardest thing in this world is to be disliked.” She also writes about a funny custom: if you hit someone with a “kayu” stick, they will have a child. She even tells us that she is afraid of the sea and feels sad when she sees women divers.

Her way of writing about daily life feels like a modern essay. But behind her bright writing, there was a difficult reality. After the death of Teishi’s father, the future of her household became dark. Even in that situation, she continued to write in a light and cheerful way. Maybe she wanted to stay positive. Maybe she wrote to comfort herself when the world felt uncertain. Like talking to a friend to feel better, she used writing to calm her heart.

She wrote, “I feel sad when I see women divers.” What kind of divers did she see?

There are not many records from the Heian period, but later documents tell us that women divers wore only a white cloth around the waist and a small cloth on the head. Wet clothes make the body cold, so they wore very little. White was also believed to protect them from danger.

So the divers Sei Shōnagon saw were probably almost naked, diving into cold water.

It was dangerous work. The sea was cold. Women had to do very hard labor.

For Sei Shōnagon, who lived in the quiet and elegant world of the palace, this must have been painful to watch. She loved beautiful things and clever conversations. In front of her, women were risking their lives in the sea.

While reading the book, I remembered a scene near my home. Cherry trees were blooming in an empty lot, and people stopped to talk. Some older women were standing together, enjoying a long and happy conversation.

Women divers also talked together in their huts after hard work, sitting around a fire to warm themselves.

Women in the palace a thousand years ago, women working in the sea, women talking under the cherry trees, and me— we all try to keep ourselves steady with words when life feels heavy.

After finishing The Pillow Book, this quiet connection stays in my heart.