Japanese Collections

Her translation was both a scholarly achievement and an uncommon intervention, offering a fresh poetic rendering of Genji at a time when it was largely studied through a male-centric academic lens. As a first edition, this set is exceptionally rare and an invaluable resource for scholars, students, and enthusiasts of Japanese literature.

The original Genji monogatari (The Tale of Genji) is often considered the first great novel in world literature. Its author, Lady Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部著, ca. 973–1025), was also a female writer who profoundly shaped the Japanese literary canon. Born in the late tenth century, she spent most of her life at or near the imperial court in Kyoto, where she entered the service of Empress Akiko (or Shōshi) as a lady-in-waiting.

Over nine centuries later, Yosano Akiko undertook the monumental task of translating Genji for a new generation. Once dubbed a “modern Murasaki Shikibu” by the Yomiuri Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, she was a groundbreaking female author who also left an indelible mark on Japanese literature.

Beyond its literary significance, these volumes are a visual masterpiece, featuring sixty-one original woodblock prints (including four frontispieces) by the distinguished yōga (Western-style) artist Nakazawa Hiromitsu (中沢弘光, 1874-1964).  a member of  the “new woodblock print” (shin-hanga) movement, which combined Edo-period printing traditions with a Western art sensibility. His illustrations bring Genji to life with a dynamic blend of traditional and Western artistic influences, adding depth and richness to Yosano’s evocative prose. If you would like to see these extraordinary books firsthand, please contact us to arrange a viewing.

Yosano Akiko was by no means the only Japanese author to undertake a translation of the Tale of Genji into modern Japanese. Other translations in our collections include the following:

Enchi Fumiko no Genji monogatari / 円地文子の源氏物語 (Tokyo: Shūeisha, 1996), translated by Fumiko Enchi