Abstract
Many food-related entries appear in "Baishi's Diary" written from 1785 to 1832 by Baishi Rai, the mother of Sanyo Rai. They appear approximately once every four days. Entries concerning the exchange of gifts are the most common, followed by those concerning serving guests, due to the fact that there were many visitors to Rai family. Household festivities, which are important to a Confucian scholarly family, and regular annual events for preparing food are also recorded every year. Baishi took part in the care of eight babies, including her own children, a stepchild, grandchildren and a great-grandchild. The health conditions of the children and their food during infant rearing were often recorded in the diary. Baishi enjoyed visiting Sanyo's house in Kyoto in her later years, and wrote her diary in an unusual way as travel notes with inserted odes. "Baishi's Diary" is an important historical record of life in the latter part of the Edo era from the aspect of home economics; in particular, household festivity entries are unique among other dairies written in the same era.
