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The Tale of Genji
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Sƍtatsu: Genji monogatari: Miotsukushi Murasaki Shikibu The Tale of Genji
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Sƍtatsu: Genji monogatari: Miotsukushi
Sƍtatsu: Genji monogatari: Miotsukushi Genji monogatari: Miotsukushi, center detail of left screen of a pair of sixfold screens by Sƍtatsu, color on gold-leafed paper; in the Seikado Bunko Art Museum, Tokyo.

The Tale of Genji

work by Murasaki
Also known as: “Genji monogatari”, “Illustrated Tale of Genji”(Show More)
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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‱History

The Tale of Genji, masterpiece of Japanese literature by Murasaki Shikibu. Written at the start of the 11th century, it is generally considered the world’s first novel. Murasaki Shikibu composed The Tale of Genji while a lady in attendance at the Japanese court, likely completing it about 1010. Because Chinese was the court’s scholarly language, works written in Japanese (the literary language used by women, often in personal accounts of life at court) were not...

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