i've just started reading a translation of makura no soshi (pillow book) by sei shonagon . . . in the introduction was a new-to-me word: 'zuihitsu' which the author defined as "occasional writings" or "random notes" . . . my google search didn't come up with much more . . . "random jottings" and "a japanese concept similar to weblogs" and "running brush" and "miscellany" . . .

and to follow another tangent, the link above on sei is part of a the site: Other Women's Voices, translations of women's writings before 1700.