Murasaki Shikibu

Japanese novelist and poet (c.973–c.1014)

Fame78.1
Momentum0.6
Japan rank#42

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Fame78.1
Momentum0.6
Japan rank#42
Writers rank#107
Wikipedia31.4K

Lived 970–1100, aged 130Japan

Japan WritersWriter / Author

Wikipedia
144 languages
Cross-language footprint
Rank in Japan
#42
Writers
Era
970–1100
Aged 130
Known for
The Tale of Genji
1987

Summary

Updated 2026-06-21

She wrote what many consider the world's first novel — a sprawling court romance composed in Japanese around the year 1000, when women of her class were barred from learning the written language of power.

Biography

About

Born into an erudite household around 973, Murasaki learned Chinese despite the prohibition, showing a precocious fluency her father's world valued but her gender wasn't meant to access. She married in her twenties, bore a daughter, and was widowed after two years — likely the period when she began drafting The Tale of Genji. Around 1005, her literary reputation brought an invitation to serve Empress Shōshi at the Imperial court, where she continued writing and wove scenes from palace life into her work. After five or six years she withdrew with the empress to Lake Biwa. Within a decade of Gen…

Voice

In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu

saidundated

So all they see of me is a façade.

— trans. Richard Bowring

Murasaki Shikibu

saidundated

To be pleasant, gentle, calm and self-possessed: this is the basis of good taste and charm in a woman.

— trans. Richard Bowring

Murasaki Shikibu

saidundated

It is useless to talk with those who do not understand one and troublesome to talk with those who criticize from a feeling of superiority.

— In Diaries of Court Ladies of Old Japan

Murasaki Shikibu

saidundated

Sei Shōnagon is a smug and horrible person. She acts so smart and is always writing in true [Chinese] characters, but if you look closely, you can find lots of mistakes.

— (source)

Murasaki Shikibu

saidundated