Shikibu Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部, 'Lady Murasaki'; c. 973 – c. 1014 or 1025) was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. Her personal name is unknown, but she may have been Fujiwara no Kaoriko (藤原香子), who was mentioned as an imperial lady-in-waiting. One of her poem was included as No.57 in Fujiwara no Teika's Hyakunin Isshu. Murasaki is depicted as a lady with long blonde hair that traditi...