In the Heian period (794 to 1185), Japan's court lived in the capital Heian-kyō, today's Kyoto. It was a world of poetry, fine silk robes, perfume contests and strict manners, and its women wrote some of its greatest literature. Around 1000, a lady-in-waiting known as Murasaki Shikibu wrote The Tale of Genji, a long story of the loves and sorrows of a prince, often called the world's first novel.
About 1120 to 1140, court painters made a set of illustrated handscrolls of the tale, with passages of beautiful handwriting and paintings in turn. Only fragments survive, now divided between the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya and the Gotoh Museum in Tokyo.
Looking closely: A scene from Genji. We look down at a steep angle into the palace, as if the roof had been lifted off; Japanese artists call this fukinuki yatai, "blown-away roof." Strong diagonal beams, screens and verandas cut the space into compartments, so figures are seen in separate rooms, near but apart, which suits a story about longing and distance. The courtiers' faces are drawn with a line for each eye and a small hook for the nose (hikime kagibana), so feeling comes through pose, color and setting rather than facial expression. Their robes spread around them in big, flat shapes of color.
Key idea
Why it works
Worked example: How do you read it?
- Unroll it on a table, not on a wall.
- Open about an arm's length at a time, rolling up the part you have seen.
- Move from right to left, the direction of Japanese writing then.
Answer: Unroll it right to left, a section at a time.
Common mistake