Poetry played a very important role in the prose narrative of the Heian period. During the Heian period poetry was a way for people to show 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 stories and show the overwhelming value of poetry in Japanese society. With the transition from poetry to prose, long tales and stories could be passed down in Japan, helping to shape Japanese culture. Two types of prose in particular that played important roles were nikki and monogatari. During the Heian period, which lasted from 794 to 1195, government officials began keeping personal diaries that they called nikki. These were not everyday writings but later memories of events, so they contained further analysis of what had happened. The fact that it wasn't written every day is an advantage and a disadvantage for the Nikki. The downside is that 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 analyze the events that occurred comprehensively and provide much deeper personal insight into how he or she feels about the event. The nikki is also very interesting in that it can give the author the ability to sometimes see the consequences of certain actions or events fully unfold and then provide commentary on the entire situation. In addition to waiting to write the events, when writing a nikki, the author usually uses different writing styles such as third person or a narration. This would give the nikki the feeling of being a story or a work... in the middle of the paper... in this form and different beliefs can shine through in the stories they contain. The Nikkis are good at understanding what some individuals thought in the Hein period, but in my opinion they are not as rich in Japanese folklore as the Monogatari are. While both are excellent resources for studying Japanese history, I feel like the flaw in both is overall accuracy. Some nikki are written in which the author takes on a different character while many monogatari describe fictional events. They are great for getting a feel for the era and understanding different writing styles, but at the same time they are the most reliable sources for history. Works CitedEncyclopedia of Japan, available through Japan Knowledge. “Handout 5 – monogatari, Isemonogatari, Taketori monogatari”. 2011.