A thousand years ago in Kyoto, words could make or break you. Learn how.

The Heian court is a working model of how status, art and language braid together — and it is more entertaining than most novels written since.

By the end

You will be able to open The Tale of Genji or a Heian poem and see the court politics, love rules and wordplay moving underneath it.

Who this is for

Curious readers, history lovers and anyone who has ever bounced off Genji or a page of waka and wanted a way in.