National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Shunki (Spring Record) refers to the diary of the courtier Fujiwara Sukefusa (1007-57), who was the son of the courtier Fujiwara Sukehira and the grandson of Fujiwara Sanesuke (957-1046), the Minister of the Right, the head of the Onomiya family, and author of Shoyuki (Sanesuke's diary). The title of Sukefusa's diary, Shunki, or Spring Record, comes from his official Harumiya Gon no Daifu (Lord Keeper of the Spring Palace) after having served as a councilor. Sukefusa not only accounts government affairs and ceremonies within the Imperial Palace, he fills his record with a personal perspective adding criticisms of various personalities and his society. Sukefusa's original diary no longer exists. The current set of scrolls is important as the oldest extant copy that previously belonged to To-ji Temple.