WRITER

Murasaki Shikibu

973 - 1014

Photo of Murasaki Shikibu

Icon of person Murasaki Shikibu

Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部, 'Lady Murasaki'; c. 973 – c. 1014 or 1025) was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Murasaki Shikibu has received more than 1,263,787 page views. Her biography is available in 137 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 133 in 2019). Murasaki Shikibu is the 187th most popular writer (down from 146th in 2019), the 20th most popular biography from Japan (down from 16th in 2019) and the 7th most popular Japanese Writer.

Murasaki Shikibu is most famous for writing The Tale of Genji, which is considered the world's first novel.

Memorability Metrics

  • 1.3M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 72.94

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 137

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 1.96

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 9.87

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among WRITERS

Among writers, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 187 out of 7,302. Before her are Nizami Ganjavi, John Steinbeck, Aldous Huxley, Constantine VII, Tove Jansson, and Dale Carnegie. After her are Stanisław Lem, Lope de Vega, Eckhart Tolle, Janusz Korczak, Lu Xun, and Al-Masudi.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 973, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 3. Before her are Al-Biruni, and Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor. After her is Al-Maʿarri. Among people deceased in 1014, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 1. After her are Sweyn Forkbeard, Samuel of Bulgaria, Sigrid the Haughty, Bagrat III of Georgia, Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri, Brian Boru, and Rajaraja I.

Others Born in 973

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Others Deceased in 1014

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 20 out of 6,245. Before her are Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536), Emperor Taishō (1879), Isoroku Yamamoto (1884), Yoko Ono (1933), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), and Osamu Dazai (1909). After her are Emperor Jimmu (-711), Shinzō Abe (1954), Koji Tanaka (1955), Osamu Tezuka (1928), Hideki Tojo (1884), and Kanō Jigorō (1860).

Others born in Japan

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among WRITERS In Japan

Among writers born in Japan, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 7. Before her are Miyamoto Musashi (1584), Matsuo Bashō (1644), Haruki Murakami (1949), Yukio Mishima (1925), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), and Osamu Dazai (1909). After her are Kenzaburō Ōe (1935), Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892), Natsume Sōseki (1867), Kazuo Ishiguro (1954), Kōbō Abe (1924), and Sugawara no Michizane (845).

Japanese born Writers

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous