Kana characters were created from kanji characters by noblewomen, and literature including waka (a traditional Japanese poem of thirty-one syllables), tale and diary literature as typified by The Tale of Genji and Makura no soshi (the Pillow Book) was popularized.
貴族の女性の間で漢字からかな文字が生まれ、源氏物語や枕草子に代表される和歌や物語、日記文学など文芸が盛んになった。