Little Known Kyoto: -
Sepulcher of Murasaki Shikibu and Ono no Takamura
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When I recently read an English translation of Lady Murasaki Shikibu's tenth century Japanese classic, The Tale of Genji, I came to appreciate exactly why this is one of the greatest classics ever written. I was therefore determined, upon visiting Kyoto, to find any possible traces of her existence. So little is known about Murasaki - even her name is not known; but what is more remarkable is how much is known about her.
It is not often that we are able to visit the grave of the author of one of the greatest world classics, but translator Edward G. Seidensticker (The Tale of Genji Everyman p. vii) declared that "One can visit a spot in the northern environs of Kyoto that is described as [Murasaki's] grave; and the marvel is that it might just possibly be." According to the Kondasha Encyclopedia of Japan - Murasaki (1993) "Scholars who wish it in fact to be her grave have put together a reasonably persuasive argument."
In the above picture you can see the entrance to Murasaki's Sepulcher, which is about a hundred yards south of the junction between Kitaoji and Horikawa streets, on the west side of the latter street.
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Lady Murasaki lies entombed in a great barrow (or sits - noble Japanese were buried in a sitting position), and to the right of her grave is that of another literary luminary, Ono no Takamura (see below). When I visited, my Japanese friend showed me how to use the provided matches to light the incense sticks at the foot of Murasaki's tomb as a mark of respect, and we clapped before praying for her soul.
A nearby stone tablet gives a record of the few known details of her life in Japanese and English. Here, with apologies for the bits I could not read, is a transcription of the English section. I hope I am not causing any offence by reproducing it.
SEPULCHER OF LADY MURASAKILady Murasaki Shikibu (c. 973 - c. 1031), the most distinguished writer in Japanese history, was the second daughter of Tametoki Fujiwara, a poet with aristocratic lineage. She was an attendant to Empress Akirako of Emperor Ichijo as a court lady, her name at court being Shikibu while the name Murasaki Shikibu was an endearing sobriquet.
The voluminous novel "The Tale of Genji", "Diary of Murasaki Shikibu", an incisive product of her intellect along with Anthology Murasaki Shikibu are the pre-eminent works responsible [for preserving] the name of Lady Murasaki.
Having been highly esteemed as a woman of [letters during her] lifetime these works, and especially "The Tale of Genji", [have] been familiar to the Japanese over a span of nine centuries. From early in the present century her [work] has been known through-out the world and ... The Tale of Genji has been widely translated. In 1964 UNESCO designated [her as one of the] great [Figures] of the world.
Spring 1989 Dr. ...
Ono no Takamura (c. 802 - 852) was a courtier, poet and scholar. He was sent into exile for the crime of attempting to avoid going to China as a vice ambassador. On the way to the Oki Islands in the Inland Sea he composed a waka (a 5 line poem that can easily be found on other sites). Later he was pardoned and reinstated to his former position. Some have argued that it was the previously mentioned famous poem that gave rise to the medieval belief that Takamura was able to travel freely between this world and the Buddhist hell, and that he even served the king of hell.
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