The Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji, or *Genji Monogatari*, is a foundational work of Japanese literature, believed to have been composed by Murasaki Shikibu—a noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting—during the early 11th century, at the height of the Heian period. It holds the distinction of being the first novel by a woman to achieve global recognition, and within Japan, it carries cultural weight comparable to Shakespeare’s works in the United Kingdom.

The story portrays the lives of high-ranking courtiers in the Heian era. It was written mostly in hiragana, the Japanese phonetic script used by women at the time, rather than in the more prestigious Chinese characters (kanji). The language is archaic and poetic, requiring specialized study to understand. No original manuscript survives; instead, over 300 later hand-copied versions exist, each with varying reliability. The original was made in a concertina (orihon) format, with sheets of paper pasted together and folded alternately. In the early 1900s, poet Akiko Yosano translated it into modern Japanese. The first English translation, by Suematsu Kencho in 1882, was incomplete and of poor quality. Arthur Waley produced a nearly complete version (excluding only chapter 38, “Suzumushi” or “The Bell Cricket”) between 1925 and 1933. Since then, full English translations have been completed by Edward Seidensticker, Royall Tyler, and Dennis Washburn.

The first 33 chapters focus on the early life and romantic adventures of Hikaru Genji, or “Shining Genji.” He is the son of Emperor Kiritsubo and a low-ranking concubine, the Kiritsubo Consort. For political reasons, the emperor removes Genji from the line of succession, giving him the surname Minamoto and demoting him to commoner status. Chapters 34 to 41 cover Genji’s old age and death, while the final section, chapters 42 to 54, shifts focus to his grandson, Niou, and his supposed son, Kaoru.

Murasaki lived when the Fujiwara clan was at its peak, with Fujiwara no Michinaga acting as de facto regent and the era’s most powerful political figure. It is thought that she partly modeled Genji on Michinaga. The tale may have been written chapter by chapter, delivered as installments to aristocratic women at court. It contains many elements of a modern novel: a central character, a large cast of major and minor figures, well-developed personalities, and a sequence of events spanning the protagonist’s lifetime and beyond. There is no single plot, but events unfold and characters age. Despite roughly 400 characters, the story maintains internal consistency—everyone ages in step, and family and feudal relationships remain stable.

Almost none of the characters are given explicit names in the original text. Instead, they are referred to by their function (e.g., Minister of the Left), an honorific (e.g., His Excellency), or their relation to others (e.g., Heir Apparent), which changes as the story progresses. This naming convention stems from Heian-era court manners, where using a person’s given name was considered too familiar and blunt. Modern readers and translators have invented nicknames to keep track of the many characters.

There is long-standing debate about how much of *Genji* Murasaki Shikibu actually wrote, and it is unlikely to be settled without a major archival discovery. The tale is generally accepted to have been finished in its current form by 1021, when the author of the *Sarashina Nikki* wrote about her joy at obtaining a complete copy. She mentions over 50 chapters and a character introduced at the end, suggesting that if other authors contributed, the work was completed very close to her time. Murasaki’s own diary, written around 1008, references the tale and applies the name “Murasaki” to herself, alluding to the main female character. This confirms that at least part of the diary existed by then.

Murasaki is said to have based Genji on the Minister of the Left at court. Some translators, like Royall Tyler, believe the character Murasaki no Ue, whom Genji marries, is based on Murasaki Shikibu herself. Yosano Akiko, who made the first modern Japanese translation, thought Murasaki wrote only chapters 1 to 33, with chapters 35 to 54 written by her daughter, Daini no Sanmi. Other scholars have also doubted the authorship of chapters 42 to 54, especially chapter 44, which contains continuity errors rare elsewhere. Tyler notes that computer analysis has found “statistically significant” stylistic differences between chapters 45 to 54 and the rest, as well as among the early chapters.

Genji’s mother dies when he is three, and the Emperor cannot forget her. Emperor Kiritsubo then learns of Lady Fujitsubo, a former princess who resembles his deceased concubine, and she becomes one of his wives. Genji first loves her as a stepmother, then as a woman, and they fall in love. Frustrated by this forbidden love and on bad terms with his own wife, Lady Aoi, Genji pursues a series of love affairs with many other women.