Considering the literacy rate in those days, a common man could not be a possible author, therefore it is conjectured that the author would have been somebody who belonged to the upper class and lived near the Heiankyo (the Heian Palace), easily accessing information of the court nobles.
作者像として、当時の識字率から庶民は考えられず上流階級に属しており、貴族の情報が入手できる平安京近隣に居住していたと推定される。