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Murasaki Shikibu is the best known writer to emerge from Japan's glorious Heian period. Her novel, The Tale of Genji (Genji-monogatari) is considered to be one of the world's finest and earliest novels. Some argue that Murasaki is the world's first modern novelist.
Updated March 03, 2017. Murasaki Shikibu (c. 976-978 - c. 1026-1031) is known for writing what is considered the world's first novel, The Tale of Genji. Shikibu was a novelist and a court attendant of Empress Akiko of Japan. Also known as Lady Murasaki, her real name is not known. Murasaki means violet and may have been taken from a character in The Tale of Genji. Early Life. Murasaki Shikibu was born a member of the cultured Fujiwara family of Japan.