Tale of Genji

The Tale of Genji (源氏物語 Genji Monogatari) is a novel attributed to Murasaki Shikibu (紫式部), an 11th century Japanese noblewoman.

Two of the ten references to Go in the book are key plot points.

The novel has been translated to more than 20 languages. A superior translation into English is by Edward G. Seidensticker (who also translated Meijin by Kawabata). That, and another partial translation by Suematsu Kencho (末松 謙澄), translate Igo correctly as Go. Arthur Waley's selective translation (which is missing one chapter) apparently calls it draughts (checkers). The most recent English translation is by Royall Tyler.

Japanese Diet member Marutei Tsurunen has translated some parts of the book into Finnish.

English editions

• Suematsu, 1882 (partial)
• Seidensticker, 1976
• Waley, 1925-33
• Helen Craig McCullough, 1994 (partial)
• Royall Tyler, 2001
• audiobook (based on Suematsu)

For more resources, see Wikipedia.