Nakanoshima Island: Murasaki Shikibu and the Ten Uji Chapters of Genji

Why is it significant?

Cross the arched vermilion Kisenbashi bridge onto the forested river island of Nakanoshima, resting peacefully amid the swirling green waters of the Uji River. Weeping willows and flowering cherry trees fringe the pebbled banks, while the rushing mountain river creates a soothing, perpetual roar.

Key Facts

Open the walk

Cross the arched vermilion Kisenbashi bridge onto the forested river island of Nakanoshima, resting peacefully amid the swirling green waters of the Uji River. Weeping willows and flowering cherry trees fringe the pebbled banks, while the rushing mountain river creates a soothing, perpetual roar. On the island, pause before the elegant bronze statue of Murasaki Shikibu, the brilliant eleventh-century female novelist who authored The Tale of Genji, widely revered as the world's first psychological novel. The rushing current of the Uji River swirls past the island shore, its cool emerald eddies creating a soothing, continuous rhythm.

Look at the bronze depiction of Lady Murasaki: she sits in classical Heian court dress, resting a brush against paper as she gazes across the river towards the forested hills of Higashiyama. The final ten chapters of her fifty-four-chapter epic, known to scholars worldwide as the Uji Jujo, or the Ten Uji Chapters, take place entirely in this scenic river valley, tracing the bittersweet romantic tragedies of Kaoru and Prince Niou.

Just a short stroll across the island path rises the towering Thirteen-Story Stone Pagoda, or Juzusan-no-Sekito. Standing over fifteen meters tall, this monumental granite monument was erected in twelve eighty-six by the Buddhist monk Eison to appease the spirits of slaughtered fish and commemorate the prohibition of commercial fishing along the sacred river, ranking as the largest ancient stone pagoda in Japan.

In summer, traditional cormorant fishing boats moor along these island banks, preparing iron fire baskets and trained cormorant birds for evening river displays. The fishermen wear traditional dark indigo robes and woven straw skirts, preserving techniques that have illuminated these waters since the Heian era.

Cross the eastern channel via the Asagiribashi bridge and follow the riverside lane toward the maple-draped slope of Kosho-ji.