While she was serving Empress Akiko, Murasaki also kept a diary, documenting the events in her life from 1008 to 1013 A.D. For example, she wrote, “Even the sight of the lowest monials (servants), chattering to each other as they walked round lighting the fire baskets under the trees by the lake and arranging the food in the garden, seemed to add to the sense of occasion. Torchbearers stood everywhere at attention and the scene was as bright as day.” Murasaki’s diary helps historians understand the lives of Japanese nobles living in the Heian period.