Uninvited Tale

"Uninvited Tale" was created in the 13th century by the heiress of a once-powerful aristocratic family, related to the imperial house of Japan, the lady-in-waiting Nijō. It is the diary of an intelligent, perceptive, and gifted woman who lived in... an era when the monarchs of Japan — and the aristocracy in general — had almost completely lost real power, which had shifted to the military leaders known as shōguns. With power also went a significant portion of material wealth — land and treasures confiscated by the shōgunate. However, the centuries-old cultural tradition could not vanish overnight: even at the imperial court, stripped of residence, poetry and music continued to be composed, and drawing and calligraphy were practiced. This elusive beauty — translucent, ghostly, like the wings of an autumn butterfly that can no longer take flight — permeates the pages of "Uninvited Tale."