Two travel dairies or nikki stand out in traditional Japanese literature; both share the same literary designation, but come from drastically different time periods. The first diary Tosa nikki was written in 936, the second diary Oku no hosomuchi was written starting in 1689 and finally finished in 1702. Both authors had a purpose in their writing and shared their thoughts with the Japanese people; but how different could two men of the same culture be? Ki no Tsurayuki wrote his travelogue Tosa Nikki during the Heian period while preparing and traveling from Tosa Province (modern-day Kochi Prefecture) to the capital Kyoto. This voyage was northward and was made mainly by sea; this was notable because the Japanese were legendarily poor sailors. Kyoto was the home of the emperor who during the Heian period was considered a descendant of the gods. Kyoto was not only the home of Ki no Tsurayuki, but it was also the center of the world at the time. Men and women were sent away from the city but always longed to return. Unlike Tosa Nikki, Oku no hosomichi by Matsuo Bashō (formerly known as Matsuo Kinsaku) was written much later during the Edo period and was about an overland journey made on foot. Even without the dangers of water travel, Bashō's journey had its dangers such as bandits and poor paths. Regardless of the type of journey and time period, one of the striking differences between Tosa Nikki and Oku no hosomichi was the direction in which the authors were traveling. I mentioned that Ki no Tsurayuki was returning home to the center of the world at the time, Kyoto. Bashō on the other was leaving the city of Edo (modern Tokyo), and traveling into the desert to visit the...... middle of paper ......oss, and the other was fleeing the city after a loss. These two men wrote in very different styles, with different political and social situations, but still managed to be eerily similar and traditionally Japanese in their writing. Both authors shared a mutual appreciation for the natural world around them and shared poems from different social classes in their work to give a broad picture of the land. Regardless of time period, religious atmosphere, and mode of travel, both Tosa Nikki and Oku no Hosochi helped share a distinctly Japanese appreciation for beauty and depth of feeling. Romanticized or not, these works have provided us with an invaluable window into both the Heian and Edo periods. Works Cited Basho, Matsuo. Oku no Hosomechi. ndKeene, Donald. Anthology of Japanese literature. Grove Press Inc., 1955.