Yoru no Nezame

Yoru no Nezame (夜の寝覚^?, Wakefulness at Night) is a c. 11th century Japanese story. It is one of the major representative Heian period texts. It is a courtly romance and belongs to the tsukuri monogatari genre.

The text exists in both three and five volume editions. Beside the title Yoru no Nezame, it was also known as Yowa no Nezame and Nezame . Which was the original title is unclear. Also unclear is the author. The Teika manuscript of Sarashina Nikki identifies the author as the daughter of Sugawara no Takasue (1008 - c. 1059); however, there are no other means to corroborate this. Linguistic analysis suggests a post 1086 composition. The text as a whole is judged to be a c. 11th century work.

Major portions of the middle and end are no longer extant. Their contents may be inferred from other sources such as Mumyōzōshi, Shūi Hyakuban Utaawase, Fūyō Wakashū, Yoru no Nezame Monogatari, and Nezame Monogatari Emaki.

The text is a successor to Genji Monogatari, from which it shows much influence. However, while Genji is told from a male perspective, Yoru no Nezame is told from the perspective of a female protagonist.

Yoru no Nezame is a tragic love story revolving around the life of Nakanokimi, also known as Nezame no Ue from which the story takes its title. Other characters include her elder sister Ōigimi and a Middle Counselor.

The story is divided into four sections:

The text remains in seven extant manuscripts. Of them, the three-volume Maeda manuscript is judged the best.

There is also a later revised edition as well as an illustrated edition, both of which serve to supplement the missing content.

...
Wikipedia