Through the long time of a thousand years, finally the time has come that everyone can read The Tale of Genji without being restricted by anyone. From the establishment of the Meiji political system to the end of World War II, there was a surge of movement for boycotting The Tale of Genji. Those who wanted to ban The Tale of Genji argued that the story was blasphemous to the imperial line or immoral. This movement ultimately subsided in after World War II. Publishing was liberalized and now many more people can access to the narrative. Murasaki Shikibu might have written this long narrative and longed for such a world of reading freedom.

In Chapter 25, “Firefly,” she wrote following:

• I do not intend to write the whole truth about a person’s own story. However, I can neither be satisfied with just looking at good or bad matters nor let what I hear pass. There are a lot of things I want to hand down to posterity. This story started when I wrote down every little thing that I could not keep to myself.

As a woman, I am proud of as well as amazed that such a great same-gender writer lived in Japan a thousand years ago. To understand and interpret her true intentions that she poured into her narrative, I plan to read and reread The Tale of Genji and convey her intentions to the next generation. Creating pictures of the characters in The Tale of Genji is one action for that purpose.


May 10, 2014