Murasaki Shikibu ( , ) (c. 973 or 978 – c. 1014 or 1031) was a Japanese novelist, poet and
lady-in-waiting at the
Imperial court during the
Heian period. She is best known as the author of
The Tale of Genji, written in
Japanese between about 1000 and 1012. Murasaki Shikibu is a nickname; her real name is unknown, but she may have been
Fujiwara Takako, who was mentioned in a 1007 court diary as an imperial lady-in-waiting.