The title was also written using Chinese characters such as '枕草紙' (Makurazoshi Notebook), '枕冊子' (Makura Sasshi), '枕双紙' (Makura soshi), and '春曙抄' (Shunsho-sho Commentary), and the oldest manuscript (called "maedabon" in Japanese), a copy of which was made in the Kamakura period, has a gold-lacquered casket with the Chinese characters "清少納言枕草子" (Sei Shonagon, The Pillow Book) written on it.
「枕草紙」「枕冊子」「枕双紙」「春曙抄」とも表記され、最古の鎌倉時代の写本前田本の蒔絵の箱には『清少納言枕草子』とある。