What Did It Like?

I watched news, which reported that another version of “Tail of Genji (源氏物語)” was re-discovered, today. There are some copies of that story, but this one is a bit different from others. Experts say it is useful because we can use it to understand what the original one, which doesn’t exist now, was like. Y’know that there were no printing tools at that time, so people had to copy stories if they wanted them. Although a lot of people are fascinated with this story, I don’t like it much. While reading it, I can’t help but think, “Oh my god, this guy is really a cradle-snatcher…and I can’t understand those incestuous relationships…”

Looking at the pictures (we call it Genji-monogatari-emaki 源氏物語絵巻, or just Genji-emaki 源氏絵巻), I wonder how those ladies could stand the heat of summer. They all have long hair and wear kimonos, which really look unbelievably hot.

Anyway, it is good that we now have a clue so we can know the original story. Ah, there are many Thirty-one Syllabled Verse poems (aka. Tanka短歌) . In those days, they were used to foster relationships between men and women. The people who were good at writing them were highly likely to have boyfriends/girlfriends. At this point in time, I never would have been able to have a boyfriend. I don’t have any literary talent or the sense of humor, unfortunately.

And I wonder what the life was like in those days… did they only care about dating someone? So they loved this story that much? hmmm.