A woman writer of the mid-Heian period. A descendant of Sugawara Michizane, she spent her childhood in the Kanto region because her father was appointed to a post in Kazusa Province (Chiba Prefecture). She is known for her fanatical devotion to reading "The Tale of Genji," and in "The Sarashina Diary" she writes: "I had heard there was a tale called Genji Monogatari in this world, and I kept thinking how I might see it." "The Sarashina Diary," beginning with a description of the journey through eastern provinces at age thirteen on the way to the capital, is a masterpiece of autobiographical diary literature encompassing her longing for Genji, her life at court and marriage, and her reflections on old age and her husband's death. Often depicted as a "dreamer" who loved the world of tales more than reality, with an introspective personality given to reverie and a love of dreams. There are sites in Ichihara City, Chiba associated with the Sarashina Diary.

A romantic, introspective woman who preferred to live in the world of dreams and tales over reality. Her fanatical devotion to Genji Monogatari was almost a form of faith, and her pure love of literature overflows from the Sarashina Diary.

"The Sarashina Diary" is one of the completed forms of Heian diary literature. Her frank account of longing for Genji Monogatari continues to resonate with literature lovers to the present day.