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Secondary sourcePaintingbetween 1795 and 1806

Murasaki Shikibu with Male Court Poets

Kitagawa Utamaro · between 1795 and 1806

A later woodblock print imagining Murasaki Shikibu in conversation with male court poets.

This later print imagines Murasaki Shikibu debating with male court poets, showing how she was remembered.

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Japanese woodblock print showing a woman lying on a patterned purple and green robe in the upper left, with four seated men around her in muted tones: two in dark robes on the right and left, one bald older man in grey-brown robes at lower left, and a man in a green patterned robe at lower right. Artist's signature appears at upper right.
Kitagawa Utamaro, Murasaki Shikibu with Male Court Poets, between 1795 and 1806.

About this source

What it is

This is a Japanese woodblock print made by the artist Kitagawa Utamaro between 1795 and 1806, long after Murasaki Shikibu's lifetime. It shows a woman reclining among four seated men in court robes.

Why it matters

The print reflects how later generations imagined Murasaki Shikibu, a famous woman writer, interacting with the male literary world of her time. It tells us more about how Edo-period Japan remembered her than about her actual life.

Look closer

  • Why might the artist choose to show Murasaki surrounded by men?
  • What does the clothing and posture suggest about her status?
  • Since this was made centuries after she lived, what parts might be imagined rather than historical?

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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