Poetry played a very important role in the narrative prose of the Heian period. During the Heian period, poetry was a means by which people showed their worth or status. Men and women wrote poems to each other to attract each other and win their love. Poetry was mixed with prose to enrich the stories and show the overwhelming value of poetry in Japanese society. With the transition from poetry to prose, long tales and stories were able to be transmitted to Japan, helping to shape Japanese culture. Two types of prose in particular that played a major role were nikki and monogatari. During the Heian period, which lasted from 794 to 1195, government officials began keeping personal diaries which they called nikki. These were not daily writings but rather later recollections of events and therefore contained a more in-depth analysis of what had happened. The fact that it wasn't written every day is a plus and a minus for Nikki. On the other hand, the person keeping the diary might forget something that happened, which would prevent them from documenting an event or documenting it accurately. On the other hand, by waiting to document an event, the author is able to completely analyze the events that occurred and give a much deeper personal insight into how he or she feels about the event. The nikki is also very interesting in the fact that it can give the author the opportunity to sometimes see the consequences of certain actions or events fully unfold, and then comment on the whole situation. Aside from waiting to write the events, when writing a nikki the author usually uses different writing styles such as third person or narrative. This would make the nikki feel like a story or a work...... middle of paper ......n this form and different beliefs can come through in the stories within them. The Nikki are good at understanding what certain individuals were thinking at the time Hein, but they are not as rich in Japanese folk traditions as the monogatari are in my opinion. While both are excellent resources for studying Japanese history, I feel like their flaw lies in their overall accuracy. Some nikki are written in which the author assumes a different character while many monogatari describe fictional events. They are great for getting a feel for the times and understanding different writing styles, but at the same time they are the most reliable sources of history. Works Cited Encyclopedia of Japan, available through Japan Knowledge. « Document 5 – monogatari, Isemonogatari, Taketori monogatari”. 2011.