Edo Murasaki Yoshiwara Genji

(Edo’s Murasaki and Yoshiwara’s Genji, 江戸紫吉原源氏)

1834

The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari) is the greatest novel in classical Japanese literature, and arguably, the world’s first novel. It was written in the first decade of the eleventh century by Lady Murasaki, and relates the womanizing exploits of Prince Genji. Each page is approximately 10 by 7¼ inches or 25.5 by 18.5 centimeters, a size known as ôban.

Cover

Each of the fifty-four chapters of The Tale of Genji is named and is associated with a crest called a Genji-mon. The cover bears the Genji-mon for the tenth chapter, Sakaki (榊, Sacred Tree).

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