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Secondary sourcePainting

Murasaki Shikibu, Poem 57, Azuma Nishiki-e

Utagawa Kunisada

A later woodblock print portraying Murasaki Shikibu, made for a series illustrating the Hyakunin Isshu poetry anthology.

A later artistic portrait imagining Murasaki Shikibu, made for an illustrated edition of a classic poetry anthology that includes her poem.

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Woodblock print of a woman in a grey kimono with iris pattern, holding a brush, standing before an open book showing a scene of a figure lying under bedding and columns of text. Signed with a red seal and calligraphy.
Utagawa Kunisada, Murasaki Shikibu, from Azuma Nishiki-e Hyakunin Isshu.

About this source

What it is

This woodblock print by the artist Utagawa Kunisada depicts Murasaki Shikibu, created for the picture album Azuma Nishiki-e Hyakunin Isshu. It shows a woman in a grey kimono with an iris-patterned hem, standing and holding a thin object, with an open book behind her showing text and a small illustrated scene.

Why it matters

Murasaki Shikibu was a court lady and novelist in Japan, remembered today for The Tale of Genji and for the poem included in the Hyakunin Isshu, a classic anthology of one hundred poets. This print was made centuries after her life by Kunisada, part of a long tradition of Japanese artists imagining and honoring famous poets through art.

Look closer

  • Since this was made long after Murasaki lived, what do you think the artist based her appearance on?
  • Why might artists use scenes from her writing, like the small illustration behind her, to represent her?
  • What does this image tell us about how later generations imagined historical writers?

This painting 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.

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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

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