Tale of Genji

There is a small exhibition on in Tokyo relating to the late Donald Keene, American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature and the novel "The Tale of Genji.

The Tale of Genji was written by Murasaki Shikibu over 1000 years ago and is regarded by many as the first true novel. No one knows who Murasaki Shikibu actually was as that name was her nickname but she was a member of the imperial court of the name and was a rival to another woman writer of the time, Sei Shōnagon whose writing would not be out of place on social media today as sho wrote observations on her every day life.

Donald Keene was instrumental in getting the novel translated and the exhibition is a tribute to that.