page_title: Murasaki Shikibu Diary Emaki
section_title: Day of the Bird festival
hierarchical_section_title: Murasaki Shikibu Diary Emaki / Extant scrolls / Hinohara or former Hisamatsu scroll / Day of the Bird festival
caption_attribution_description: English: Ukiyo-e reproduction of the Murasaki Shikibu Diary Emaki, Hinohara scroll, 1st painting. 日本語: 紫式部日記絵巻 (和装本) (出版年不明)　(出版者不明)　(出版地不明) (扉題:紫式部日記画巻) 木版複製本 後半は日野原家本に一致。 表・裏表紙を含めて全27中12-14目の見開きの合成画像 [1][2]
context_page_description: The Murasaki Shikibu Diary Emaki is a mid-13th century emaki, a Japanese picture scroll, inspired by the private diary of Murasaki Shikibu, lady-in-waiting at the 10th/11th centuries Heian court and author of The Tale of Genji. This emaki belongs to the classical style of Japanese painting known as yamato-e and revives the iconography of the Heian period.
  Today there remain four paper scrolls of the emaki in varying condition and stored in different collections: Hachisuka, Matsudaira, Hinohara scrolls, and Fujita scroll. Of the extant scrolls, the first relates the celebrations on occasion of the birth of prince Atsunari in 1008 and the last those of the birth of Prince Atsunaga in 1009. This difference in time indicates that the original emaki most likely consisted of more scrolls than exist today.
context_section_description: Murasaki Shikibu tells of an anecdote at the festival of the Kamo Shrine held on Kankō 5, 11th month, 28th day (December 28, 1008), the last Day of the Bird (酉の日, tori no hi). On this day, Fujiwara no Norimichi, son of Michinaga, had the role of the Emperor's substitute. After a night of merriment, a joke is played on the Naidaijin by making him believe that a present he had received is directly from the Empress; thus requiring an open return. Murasaki Shikibu goes on to describe how noble and dignified Norimichi looked on that day and how his nurse was overwhelmed by his appearance. In a sacred dance performed at night, the mediocre performance of one dancer who had been "very handsome last year" reminded Murasaki Shikibu "of the fleeting life of us all". The illustration associated with this scene shows the Imperial Messenger, Fujiwara no Norimichi, his head decorated with wisteria branches on the top of a staircase of a shrine building. The train of his garment is flowing down the staircase and he is watched by three courtiers positioned near the bottom of the stairs.
caption: Ukiyo-e reproduction of 1st painting
exif: {}