1000 – 1010s

Events in the 1000s 1

• 1008 The Tale of Genji written Murasaki Shikibu's masterwork — the first novel Around 1008, the court lady Murasaki Shikibu completed The Tale of Genji, a sweeping psychological portrait of court life and romance often regarded as the world's first novel. Written in the vernacular by a woman of the Heian court, it remains a pinnacle of Japanese literature.