Tale of Genji Museum — Attraction in Uji

A real missed opportunity. Very disappointing.

A swish building with high tech demonstrations containing very, very little. The museum is three rooms which have: nothing on the author(!), nothing of the Tale of Genji’s place in Japanese culture and literature today, no artefacts from the time. This was the world’s first novel. Millions have been spent on this site. How could they fluff this up so badly.

The little I learned about the life and times of the Fujiwaras and the court is interesting. But nowhere near deep enough. I’d find more with 20 minutes on Wikipedia.

For English visitors, incomprehensibly, the most important info board, ‘The Tale of Genji in a Nutshell’ is not translated. So you won’t find out much about the story if you’re uninitiated. If I had actually read the Tale of Genji, I’d be even more disappointed, because I’d be excitably anticipating more than basics. The basics are barely there, anyway.

This Museum though is a phenomenal let-down as one of Uji’s main draws.

Afternote: Luckily the rest of Uji is surprisingly good for example, the museum within Bodoin Temple grounds is an auxiliary to the main site and well...

I have read Tale of Genji (translation) in English and was excited to visit. I was disappointed because: (1) Very minimal English in the museum, and (2) The English audioguide only explains a few things - why not have some translated versions of information at the displays? (3) The :manga" movie trivializes the literature (for kids) and is in Japanese only. (It is too loud to hear the English translation on the audioguide at the same time - why not some subtitles?) (4) I would like some current commentary about the context of the story, which was not exactly a love romance - more like the desired and impulses of a nobleman (Genji) and many women's submission to those desires. Acceptable in the 1100's, not so much today. Genji had particular desires for very young women. It would be frowned upon now. I cannot recommend this museum to non-Japanese tourists....

Beautiful museum that has almost nothing in English but can still be interesting. I was able to put together some information from the displays with the use of Google picture translate as the pamphlet doesn't help much. For anyone who knows the story of the tale of genji and how it greatly influenced how we understand high-court life, dress and stories. I like the displays and the smelling areas as fragrances were an important part of a woman's power and influence in the court to attract the right suitors. I watched a movie about the story which is a dramatized version of the story. Couldn't understand it, but followed common themes of women as tricky witches often seen in Japanese folklore. The costumes and decorations are beautiful, the romantic illuminated bridge is fun, but yes 600 yen is a little expensive & it's a frustrating visit without the...