Murasaki Shikibu / A Woman of Many Mysteries

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紫式部 Murasakishikibu

ca.  970 – 1014

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Author of the world’s oldest full-length novel

Murasaki Shikibu, a Woman of Many Mysteries

The exact year of Murasaki Shikibu’s birth and death are not known.  Furthermore, the name “Murasaki Shikibu” is not actually her real name.  In the Heian period, unless a woman was a consort or a child of the emperor, her real name and the year of her birth and death were often unknown.  It is said that she came to be called Murasaki Shikibu after “Murasaki no Ue,” a character in her story “The Tale of Genji.”

65 Best Japanese Books of All Time

by David McElhinney & Will Heath

Choosing the fifty best Japanese books ever written is a monumental task, invariably leading to the omission of so many wonderful works of literature. After all, Japan has given rise to some of the world’s best writers, both past and present, with styles that have borrowed from and further informed Western literature. But here are 65 books that, together, speak to the rich history of literature in Japan.

Japan’s Literary Treasures

The Story at the Heart of Japanese Culture: “The Tale of Genji”(2)

Shimauchi Keiji

12 JULY 2019

The Tale of Genji has played a substantial role in the formation of Japanese culture, and has lost none of its radiance in the millennium since it was written.

Reading The Tale of Genji is an excellent way to understand Japanese literature, and the country’s culture in general. Its devoted readers over the centuries include Kawabata Yasunari, the winner of the 1968 Nobel Prize for Literature, whose writings were suffused with the Japanese sense of aesthetics. His protégé Mishima Yukio, seen as a strong Nobel candidate, also took ideas from Genji.

Japan’s Literary Treasures

Genji’s People: Customs of the Heian Nobility (3)

29 March 2019 

One of the pleasures of reading Japanese books is the chance to learn about local culture and customs. Usually there are enough points of similarity between the reader’s milieu and the scenes depicted in the story to ease the process along. With a work like The Tale of Genji, however, written over 1,000 years ago about and for the aristocrats of the Heian period (794–1185), there is even more distance from the modern non-Japanese reader. A basic idea of customs among the nobility of the time helps in understanding the story.

 

Japan’s Literary Treasures

Murasaki Shikibu: A Thousand Years of Anonymous Fame (4)

Richard Medhurst

7 November 2018

A millennium ago, Murasaki Shikibu’s keen observations of the Japanese aristocracy and court bore fruit in her literary works, including the masterpiece The Tale of Genji.

“Murasaki Shikibu and Fujiwara no Michinaga”: Literature and Power in the Heian Court (5)

Takino Yūsaku

9 February 2024

Fictional portrayals of author Murasaki Shikibu and statesman Fujiwara no Michinaga often depict the two as intimates or even lovers. A new book seeks out the truth about these major historical figures from Japan’s Heian period.

Japan’s Literary Treasures

The Evolution of “The Tale of Genji” (1)

 Shimauchi Keiji 

20 SEPTEMBER 2019

Over the centuries since it was written, The Tale of Genji has found ongoing relevance through the new interpretations of critics reacting to the spirit of the age.