Britannica
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Who wrote The Tale of Genji?
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Japanese literature
Three lines. Five, seven, five.
The Tale of Genji was written by the Japanese writer and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu.12
Composed at the start of the 11th century—likely completed around 1010—the work is widely regarded as the world’s first novel and a masterpiece of Japanese literature. While Murasaki Shikibu is credited with the authorship of the entire text, some critics have suggested that the final 14 chapters may have been written by another author.123