Nise Murasaki Inaka Genji
Nise murasaki inaka genji was a parody of the Tale of Genji, written by Ryûtei Tanehiko and illustrated by Utagawa Kunisada. It was published over the course of more than a decade, in 1829 to 1847. In total, 52 volumes of the work were published, covering 38 stories.
The work shifts the Genji from its traditional setting, in the Imperial court of the Heian period, to that of the Ashikaga shogunate, though it was generally recognized at the time to be referring to the contemporary court of the Tokugawa shoguns. For this reason, publication of the extremely popular work was cut off by the authorities in 1842. It resumed, however, in 1847, with new volumes by a variety of authors and illustrations by Kunisada and Kunisada II.
Two kabuki adaptations of the story made their stage premiere in 1851.
References
- Eiko Ikegami, Bonds of Civility, Cambridge University Press (2005), 321.
