Tale of Genji: A Thousand Year Enigma (2011)

Tale of Genji: A Thousand Year Enigma is a 2011 Japanese movie directed by Yasuo Tsuruhashi and based on Japan’s oldest known romantic literary work.

The film focuses both on the fictional tale itself and on a dramatized account of the circumstances surrounding its writing.

Movie info

Original title: 源氏物語千年の謎
Transliterated title: Genji Monogatari - Sennen no Nazo
Release date: December 10, 2011
Distributed by: Toho

Plot

A powerful politician in 11th century Japan, Lord Fujiwara, commissions Lady Murasaki Shikibu to write a story that will inspire his daughter Shoshi to fall in love with the Emperor. Muraski is secretly in love with Fujiwara, and uses him as the model for the main character of her story, Prince Genji.

In the story, Genji is is an exceedingly attractive man who’s loved by all the ladies of the court. However, he’s in love with the only woman who’s unattainable for him—the Emperor’s wife and his step-mother, Kiritsubo.

The story has its intended effect, but Murasaki becomes obsessed with it, continuing her writing while blurring the line between fantasy and reality.

Featured Cast

Actor		Role
	Toma Ikuta	Prince Genji
	Miki Nakatani	Lady Murasaki Shikibu
	Yoko Maki
	Mikako Tabe
	Sei Ashina
	Lena Tanaka
	Noriyuki Higashiyama	Lord Fujiwara
	Yosuke Kubozuka
	Takaaki Enoki
	Masahiro Komoto
	Shigeru Muroi
	Matsuya Onoe
	Misako Renbutsu	Shoshi
	Yoshiko Sakuma
	Hideki Togi