Your cat isn't ignoring you, she's just time-traveling to seduce a 10th-century playboy.
The Tale of Genji Museum in Uji City, Kyoto will be airing a short film blending history and fantasy, the story follows a modern high school girl named Hana who is transformed into a cat and transported back in time. She travels 1,000 years ago to the Heian Era as portrayed in The Tale Of Genji, arguably the most famous novel in Japanese literature. Guided by the novel's titular character Hikaru Genji, Hana experiences firsthand the emotions that the author Murasaki Shikibu depicted in her novel. The short features scenes based on The Diary of Lady Murasaki and other historical materials, such as the real-life noble Fujiwara no Michinaga swiping early drafts of The Tale Of Genji because he could not wait to read chapters as Murasaki wrote them.
Writing
Makes Heian literature accessible without talking down.
Cinematography
Evocative recreation of historical Kyoto and court life.
Production
Museum-funded passion project with genuine scholarly love.
Director
Rika Ota
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
The Tale of Genji, written circa 1008 CE, is considered the world's first novel—yes, before Cervantes, before anything European.
Fujiwara no Michinaga was a real political powerhouse who literally couldn't wait for chapters; his historical impatience became this film's most relatable beat.
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