Birthplace of Genji? Not really.

Murasaki Shikibu’s famous Tale of Genji (源氏物語) is unarguably a famous piece of classical literature. It is frequently called “the world’s first novel” (though this is a matter of some debate), and is generally considered to be a literary masterpiece. Thus, it comes as no surprise that there is no shortage of various persons and groups seeking to somehow benefit from Murasaki’s fame.

One of the best-known of these is the Buddhist temple Ishiyama-dera (石山寺), located just outside of Kyoto along the shores of Lake Biwa. According to the temple, Murasaki wrote Genji while spending time at the temple, in the room now known as the “Genji Room” (源氏の間). The monks have been asserting this as fact for hundreds of years. The following excerpt, translated by my classical Japanese professor Jamie Newhard, is from theIshiyamadera Engi (石山寺縁起), originally published in 1327:

Murasaki Shikibu … secluded herself at this temple for seven days. Looking out into the distance over the lake, she cleared her mind, and various scenes floated up in her heart and obstructed her vision. Since she was not prepared with paper, in her heart she asked the Buddha enshrined here for the paper of a copy of the Prajnaparamita Sutra that was placed in the hall, and wrote down the unexpected scenes continuously. … The place where the tale was written is called the Genji Room, and it is said that this place is unchanged.

Today, the temple’s website continues to put forth essentially the same assertions. Recently, for the 1000th anniversary of Murasaki’s tale, the temple installed a cartoonish wooden cutout Genji (seen above) outside its main gates and placed a robotic Murasaki Shikibu inside the Genji Room.

Despite its ancient origins, however, the tale associating Genji with Ishiyama-dera appears to have little basis in fact. Most scholars agree that little of none of the tale was likely written at Ishiyama-dera; the majority of Genjiwas most likely written while Murasaki was at court in Kyoto itself.