The author of The Tale of Genji, often called the world's first novel. Daughter of the scholar Fujiwara no Tametoki and great-granddaughter of the poet Kanesuke, she was widowed soon after her marriage to Fujiwara no Nobutaka and later entered the service of Empress Shōshi, where under the patronage of Fujiwara no Michinaga she completed her vast tale of court life. She also left a diary and a poetry collection, and is one of the Late Classical Thirty-Six Immortals. Her Hyakunin Isshu poem compares a childhood friend's brief visit to the moon hidden by midnight clouds.
めぐり逢ひて 見しやそれとも わかぬ間に
雲がくれにし 夜半の月影
Meguriaite mishi ya sore to mo wakanu ma ni / kumogakurenishi yowa no tsukikage
We met again after so long, but before I could tell whether it was really you, you were gone — like the midnight moon hiding behind the clouds.