The Tale of Genji: From Heian Classic to Heisei Comic by Akiko Hirota

My final was to read The take of Genji from Heian Classic to Heisei Comic By Akiko Hirota. This paper mostly talked about the evolution of the classic Genji literature from where it started to what it becomes later in the generation creating comic books, movie, and TV adaptations for modern audiences to enjoy.

-Heian Period

 The last division of classical Japanese history from 794-1185 A.D. It was noticed for its art and literature. Genji, and other romances were often told and read out loud to an aristocratic woman. While she and her ladies in waiting looked at images on a scroll of the illustrations of the story. (called an Emaki). The Heian illustrations helped later generations understand the physical aspects of the court era like clothing, room furnishings, and architecture. Which helped amplify that narrative descriptions of the text, serving as informative guides to the to the visual aspects of Heian life as well as to the take of Genji.

Full name: Emakimono it combines both text and pictures, and is drawn, painted, or stamped on a handscroll. They depict battles, romance, religion, folk tales, and stories of the supernatural world.)

There was also a certain way to draw the characters in the story. A plump face, a wide forehead, narrow eyes, thick eyebrows, and a tiny mouth were considered beautiful in both men and women. All Characters are depicted in a simple stereotyped fashion called hikime kagibane (line eyes and a tiny fishhook nose) with hardly any emotions or individual and gender differences. As shown in the images below:

Also in the article that members of the imperial court enjoyed looking at the illustrated romancesand also illustrated them. If there was no talent or time, upper class people had resources to hire other people to create illustrations for them.

Heisen Era

Heisen era is the current era of Japan. The Heisei era started on January 8^th, 1989 the first day after the death of the reigning emperor Hirohito. His son, Akihito succeeded the throne. Genji today continues in the form of comic books and animations providing ways to learn about the Heian court. Japanese youth and people in their mid-forties enjoy cartoons  and manga. Publishers create classic literature into comics to appeal more to an older fanbase.

The tale of Genji is a 13 volume manga called Genji Monogatari: Asaki Yume Mishi is first adaptation of the tale to manga, published in Mimi magazine from 1979 to 1993. This manga is concentrate on Genji’s ideal love which he gave to each of his lovers and it is addressed to young girls.

Some differences between the emaki scroll and the modern comics. The emaki scroll drawings are in color, the modern comics are in black and white except for the cover of the book. Also the buildings, costumes and furnishings are much more detailed in the comic than in the emaki. And while the comics tries to be faithful to the Heian period, this does not extend to the characters. the differences in characteristics of the Heian and the modern visuals images demonstrate the different aesthetics of the two eras. The illustrators have to decide whether to be faithful to the Heian periods standard of beauty and risk the modern readers' negative reaction or to accommodate the modern readers' preference for oval face with large eyes. 

The Heian standard of beauty (narrow eyes, small mouth, round face) is now considered ugly in the modern era. It is hard for illustrators to come up with a standard of beauty for women.The Genji Characters in all comics decidedly modern, and more Caucasian than Japanese. The Characters tend to be moree slim and tall with long legs, and have oval faces with small jaws. And some have curly or wavy hair. 

Movie and TV

For tv and drama One of the problems of cinematizing fictional stories is casting a character that appropriates the role. Genji is mostly played by a really handsome actor at the time. Those who worked on the 8 hour 1991 tv film wrote the screenplay distilled underlying feelings and relationships from the original text and made a palatable to the contemporary audience. The T.V. production employs two intriguing devices. One is the imitation if emaki (narrative on a scroll). Some scenes are seen from above in buildings without roofs, and the tv screen is sometimes framed with Genji-gumo, the golden cloud patterns of the old Genji scrolls. Scenery backdrops of mountains, trees and plants are painted stylistically rather than realistically. Actors move within frame of golden clouds in front of artificial plants and waterfalls, creating the illusion of a Genji emaki coming to life.

Genji also is said to inspire a lot of things. Genji has inspired games, arts and crafts and literature. Such descendents of the tale help cultivate an aesthetic taste for thr elegance that characterized that Heian court, influencing lifestyles in general and enhancing appreciation of the classical work itself. Genji has spawned games such as Genji sugorku (a dice game), Genji Karuta (a card game), Genji Tossen kyokai (a fan- throwing contest), and Genji kai a shell matching game. There are 50 pairs of clams and inside the shell bears an illustration to match with another. Imperial families don Heian costumes for the millennium-old Shinto rites of the initiation ceremony, the accession ceremony (enthronement of emperor), weddings and funerals