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WRITER

Murasaki Shikibu

973 - 1014

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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 is 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 1,154,867 page views. Her biography is available in 133 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 132 in 2019). Murasaki Shikibu is the 146th most popular writer (up from 162nd in 2019), the 16th most popular biography from Japan (down from 15th in 2019) and the 5th 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

  • 1.2M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.07

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 133

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 5.19

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 6.78

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Notable Works

Page views of Murasaki Shikibus by language


Among WRITERS

Among writers, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 146 out of 5,755Before her are H. G. Wells, Kālidāsa, Mikhail Bulgakov, Aldous Huxley, Guillaume Apollinaire, and Emily Brontë. After her are Pindar, Elias Canetti, Ivo Andrić, Eugène Ionesco, Heinrich Böll, and Joseph Conrad.

Most Popular Writers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 973, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 2Before her is Al-Biruni. After her are Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor and Al-Maʿarri. Among people deceased in 1014, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 1After her are Sweyn Forkbeard, Samuel of Bulgaria, Sigrid the Haughty, Bagrat III of Georgia, Brian Boru, Al-Hakim al-Nishapuri, and Rajaraja I.

Others Born in 973

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Others Deceased in 1014

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In Japan

Among people born in Japan, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 16 out of 6,048Before her are Yukio Mishima (1925), Matsuo Bashō (1644), Haruki Murakami (1949), Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542), Naruhito (1960), and Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1536). After her are Isoroku Yamamoto (1884), Emperor Taishō (1879), Osamu Dazai (1909), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), Emperor Jimmu (-711), and Yoko Ono (1933).

Among WRITERS In Japan

Among writers born in Japan, Murasaki Shikibu ranks 5Before her are Miyamoto Musashi (1584), Yukio Mishima (1925), Matsuo Bashō (1644), and Haruki Murakami (1949). After her are Osamu Dazai (1909), Yasunari Kawabata (1899), Ryūnosuke Akutagawa (1892), Kenzaburō Ōe (1935), Sei Shōnagon (966), Natsume Sōseki (1867), and Kazuo Ishiguro (1954).