Which Japanese writer is traditionally credited with "The Tale of Genji"?

The Japanese writer traditionally credited with The Tale of Genji is Murasaki Shikibu, a noblewoman and lady-in-waiting at the Heian imperial court. She is associated with the work’s composition in the early 11th century, when court culture in Japan placed great value on poetry, elegant correspondence, music, and literary skill.

The Tale of Genji follows Hikaru Genji, the son of an emperor, through a complicated world of romance, status, family, and political relationships. It was written mainly in kana, especially hiragana, a script strongly associated with women’s writing at the time, rather than the Chinese characters used for much formal scholarship. The work is often described as one of the earliest novels and as a landmark of world literature.

The attribution is traditional rather than absolutely proven. The original manuscript has not survived, and scholars have debated whether every chapter came from Murasaki’s hand. Some have proposed later contributions or revisions, but Murasaki Shikibu remains the canonical answer because historical tradition and surviving evidence connect her most strongly with the work.