Fujiwara no Michinaga

“The Tale of Genji” and “The Account of my Ten Foot Square Hut” are classical sources of Japanese art. Both of these pieces date a long way back and contain valuable information about olden days Japanese history and religion. “The Tale of Genji” and “The Account of my Ten Foot Square Hut” are written in completely different styles, tell completely contrasting stories, and were written at different times. However, the two texts shed light on one historical period, namely the Heian period. The…

In The Tale of Genji Mappō is an immense theme within its story. Mappō is a term popular in the Heian Period used to describe the ideal that nothing lasts and that one day all good things must come to an end. The Tale of Genji has many scenarios in which Mappō is shown such as that many girls Genji had fallen for and wanted to spend his life with them ended up dying; some of them being Yugao, Aoi, and Murasaki. The deaths of his lovers and all the betrayal plus his exile show Mappō to its…

Concept of Love In the Fictional Tale “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu is a story that provides a direct insight into socio political life of the Heian period in Japan. In this tale we are able to identify the standards of life that were expected of the aristocrats during the Heian period. The social nature is heavily depicted in this story as are many relationships of the characters in this story. Many of the relationships presented are romantic relationships that surround the prince…

The Uji chapters, a story of Kaoru and Niou after Genji’s death, are obviously different from the previous chapters as the main protagonist of the Tale of Genji, Genji, is not present; however these chapters also shares many similarity with the previous chapters as the story is continued with the characters related to Genji. As a result, the Uji chapters are often considered a resolution to the problems and conflicts begun in the rest of Genji. I disagree to this claim since I think a conclusion…

centralized government was first embraced in the Nara period and deliberately changed as the private estates began to grow when they were liberated from taxation. In the middle of the ninth century the court was controlled by members of the Fujiwara family. The Fujiwara family began to control the administration by…