Sei Shōnagon (清少納言, c. 966–1017 or 1025) was a Japanese author, poet, and a court lady who served the Empress Teishi (Sadako) around the year 1000 during the middle Heian period. She is the author of The Pillow Book (枕草子, makura no sōshi).
Name
Sei Shōnagon's actual given name is not known. It was the custom among aristocrats in those days to call a court lady by a nickname taken from a court office belonging to her father or husband. Sei (清) derives from her father's family name "Kiyohara" (the native Japan…Read more on Wikipedia