Murasaki Shikibu
For over a decade, Erick DuPree researched religious pluralism and marriage politics in eleventh-century Japan. This work culminated in a modern translation and analysis of The Court Diary of Murasaki Shikibu, offering new insight into women’s voices at court and the enduring influence of their writing on questions of intimacy, authority, and cultural life.
The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu: A Modern Translation
By Murasaki Shikibu | Translated by Erick DuPree
Step into the private chambers of Japan’s imperial court through the eyes of Murasaki Shikibu, the legendary author of The Tale of Genji. In her candid and poetic diary, Murasaki offers an unparalleled glimpse into the intricacies of court life, from the lavish celebrations of a prince’s birth to the quiet rivalries among the Emperor’s consorts.
As tutor to Empress Shoshi, Murasaki Shikibu observes and records the court's splendors and shadows with wit, melancholy, and incisive clarity. Her reflections move beyond palace intrigue to explore human psychology, relationships, and the passage of time with profound introspection.
In this modern translation by Erick DuPree, Murasaki’s voice resonates with renewed vitality—sharp, luminous, and achingly relevant. DuPree’s careful rendering invites contemporary readers into a world where societal conventions are both chronicled and questioned, and where the human heart’s truths remain timeless.
The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu reveals:
A rare first-person account of Heian court life by one of the world’s earliest novelists
An intimate portrait of women’s experiences, alliances, and agency within a rigid hierarchical society
A meditation on ambition, aging, sorrow, and spiritual searching in a world of outward splendor and inner complexity
Through Murasaki’s luminous prose, readers are transported across a millennium, discovering the enduring power of words to illuminate even the deepest recesses of the human experience.
Becoming Murasaki
Exploring Religious Subtext in the Court Diary of Murasaki Shikibu
By Erick DuPree
Sex. Religion. Power. Possession. Manipulation.
In the dazzling yet dangerous world of mid-Heian court life, women navigated a complex chess game of politics and alliances — where even the color of an autumn kimono or a misplaced line in a poem could spark social ruin.
Becoming Murasaki is a provocative and deeply researched exploration of how women in the Heian era used religion as a subtle but potent tool to secure power, assert sexual autonomy, and navigate the rigid structures of courtly life. Through an in-depth analysis of The Murasaki Shikibu Nikki (The Diary of Murasaki Shikibu) and selected passages from The Tale of Genji, Erick DuPree uncovers the intricate ways women maneuvered within—and sometimes against—the systems that sought to confine them.
Unlike her contemporaries, Murasaki Shikibu's writing bridges the richly observed daily life of the court with the fantastical world of her 'shining prince.' In doing so, her work reveals a shifting landscape where ritual, taboo, status, and sexual dynamics collide, offering readers rare insight into the lived religious experience of women in the 11th century.
In Becoming Murasaki, you'll discover:
How Buddhism empowered women's sexual agency amidst the constraints of imperial expectations.
The double-edged sword of Confucian influence on court language, shaping—and limiting—female expression.
Shintoism’s critical role in reshaping gendered rituals, motherhood, and court alliances.
A deeper, darker portrait of Murasaki Shikibu herself — a woman whose genius challenged, conformed to, and ultimately redefined her world.
Part literary analysis, part cultural study, and part feminist critique, Becoming Murasaki invites you to reconsider one of Japan’s most celebrated writers through a bold new lens.