Murasaki Shikibu

I made my print of Ono no Komachi, undoubtedly the most famous of the Hyakunin Isshu poets, back in 1989, just at the beginning of my work on this series. Sometimes I think that perhaps I should have waited until my printmaking skills were somewhat more advanced before tackling a subject that was to draw so much close attention ... I have the same fear this month, because now it is time to take on another hugely famous subject, the lady known as Murasaki Shikibu, author of that vast romantic novel 'The Tale of Genji'.

She seems to have had quite an interesting life. One of my reference books relates that her mother died when she was quite young, and the woman whom her father later married was very jealous of her poetry making abilities, and consequently very unkind to her. It sounds rather like the Cinderella story ... She married in her turn, and I guess she trained her own daughter well, because that young lady also would be included in the Hyaku-nin Isshu. It was after she was widowed that she began her famous writing project.

Her poem is vastly complex, and as usual, when I try and read some of the explanatory commentaries, it just leaves my head spinning ...

I've been 'bumping into' Murasaki Shikibu's Genji Monogatari frequently since I first became interested in things Japanese. Back in Canada I read it in a modern English translation, but I won't pretend I understood too much of it. To me it was just a collection of 'scenes' and images from a long-long-ago era. I encountered it again during my first short visit to Japan, about 12 years ago. I saw an exhibition of woodblock prints, among which were four made from designs of the Genji story by contemporary artist Mr. Yoshio Okada. These beautiful prints stopped me in my tracks, and I bought the set immediately, and took it back to Canada with me, where it became one of the major influences that set me on the road to becoming a printmaker. I wanted so badly to learn how to create prints like these!

So actually, one could argue that Murasaki Shikibu is partly responsible for me becoming a printmaker here in Japan, and I am sure many other people have also been influenced by her and her work. What a wonderful feeling it would have been for her if only she could have known! That a thousand years after her death, her work was still acting as a stimulus to change people's lives! Could anybody leave a better legacy than that? Thinking about this makes me realize that I'd better get busy with that 'Encyclopedia of Woodblock Printmaking Techniques' that I'd like to create. I have no illusions that it could influence as many people as 'The Tale of Genji', but who knows, perhaps in some far distant future time and place, some young man might come across it in a dusty old bookshop, and think, 'Hmmm, this looks interesting ... I think I might just give it a try ...' Who knows what wonderful works he might create?

But for now, we'll have to settle for this print of Murasaki Shikibu. I hope you enjoy it. Coming up next month, Ki no Tsurayuki.

March, 1994