Skip to main content

Secondary sourceBook

Genji Kawachibon Manuscripts

A set of some of the oldest surviving manuscript copies of Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, kept in a lacquered storage box.

These manuscripts preserve Murasaki Shikibu's novel in copied form, since no original in her own hand survives.

Ask Murasaki Shikibu about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
A lacquered wooden storage box with three drawers and a decorated top, beside an open manuscript on the right with handwritten Japanese script on paper pages. A black lacquer tray with a fitted inner section sits in front, and a lacquered panel with painted pine branches leans against the box.
Genji Kawachibon manuscripts, copies of the Tale of Genji.

About this source

What it is

These are early hand-copied manuscripts of The Tale of Genji, the novel written by the court lady known as Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century. The pages shown are handwritten in Japanese script and are stored in a decorated lacquered wooden box, with a lacquer tray and a painted panel shown alongside.

Why it matters

No original manuscript by Murasaki Shikibu herself survives, so copies like this one are central to knowing her text at all. They show how later scribes preserved, copied and cared for her work, and how precious it was considered in Japan.

Look closer

  • What does the care put into the box and tray tell you about how this text was valued?
  • Why might many old copies exist instead of one original?
  • What might have changed between Murasaki Shikibu's original writing and these later copies?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Murasaki Shikibu on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Murasaki Shikibu sources

Meet the AI Murasaki Shikibu →
Fragment of a decorated handscroll page with black calligraphic Japanese script running in vertical columns on gold-flecked paper with dark green and gold scattered patches and faint grass-like brushstrokes. A printed caption in the lower right reads in Japanese.Book

Primary source

The Tale of Genji

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1010

Open double-page spread of a Japanese manuscript with gold and silver flecks scattered on brown-orange and dark mauve paper. Black cursive kana calligraphy runs in vertical columns on both pages.Book

Primary source

Kokin Wakashū

Ki no Tsurayuki and compilers · c. 905-920

Diary entry

Primary source

The Diary of Lady Murasaki

Murasaki Shikibu · c. 1008–1010

Scan of a page of handwritten Japanese cursive calligraphy in brown ink on pale paper, written in vertical columns. This is the final part of the Tosa Nikki diary, copied by Fujiwara no Teika in the 13th century.Diary entry

Primary source

Tosa Nikki

Ki no Tsurayuki · 935 (copy 13th century)

Photograph of the front cover of a Japanese book bound in pale green-grey paper. A vertical cream label on the cover bears brush-written Japanese characters and a small seal-like stamp appears at lower left. A color calibration chart and a metric ruler are along the edges of the image.Book

Secondary source

Eiri Genji Monogatari

Yamamoto Shunshō · 1650

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Murasaki Shikibu now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions