Rozan-ji Temple

Rozan-ji Temple sits just east of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, distinguished by the Genji Garden of moss and white gravel that blooms with purple bellflowers each summer. This site occupies the former estate of Fujiwara no Kanesuke, an aristocrat of the Heian period. It was here that his great-granddaughter, Murasaki Shikibu, was born and raised. She lived on these grounds, married, and gave birth to her daughter during the eleventh century. Historians identify this specific location as the place where she wrote The Tale of Genji, often cited as the world’s first novel.