From 5:00 to 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 18, Dr. Sonja Arntzen (Professor Emerita at the University of Toronto) gave a fascinating lecture titled, “The Sarashina Diary: A New Collaborative Translation and Study.” Approximately 30 people were in attendance, including faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates. Dr. Arntzen’s talk was a lively one, and it focused on her new co-translation of an eleventh-century Heian woman’s diary, which has just been published by Columbia University Press.
Dr. Arntzen explained that over the last ten years she has worked closely with Professor Itō Moriyuki of Gakushūin University (Tokyo), who has dedicated much of his professional life to researching and understanding The Sarashina Diary. Dr. Arntzen illustrated her lecture with PowerPoint slides of Japanese temples, maps, and manuscripts, and the audience was enthralled.