Lately, I’ve been coming across a lot of content related to *The Tale of Genji* on YouTube.
I haven’t studied it any more deeply than I did in high school, but I’m heartened by the abundance of praise from foreign viewers.
Whenever foreigners are involved, the date the story was written always becomes an issue.
It seems to me that, throughout history, academia has consistently and deliberately sidestepped this crucial matter.
This issue tends to be viewed as solely within the purview of the humanities, but I believe the time has come to listen to theories put forward by researchers in the sciences as well.
One such person is architect Ryozo Yoneda (famous for his research on seismic isolation systems), who in 1991 published *Horyuji Was Relocated*.
Initially, he—who is two years my senior—and I were simply author and reader, but as we gradually engaged in discussion, I ended up taking on the publication of his new book, which conventional publishers had refused to publish.
Since then, there are many amusing behind-the-scenes stories I could share here, but for now, I will focus specifically on *The Tale of Genji* and proceed with my narrative.