YOSANO AKIKO AND "THE TALE OF THE GENJI," by G.G. Rowley. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan, 2000, 222 pp., $32.95.

There seems to be something of a "Genji" frenzy going on right now. Liza Dalby has the author writing her memoirs in her new book, "The Tale of Murasaki"; Ichinohe Saeko has a full-length modern-dance version in the works; Tomita Isao has written a "Genji" symphony; and and Miki Minoru has composed a three-hour "Genji" opera.

In addition, an Australian expert on Japan recently told a group of American business executives to skip all those books on how corporations work. Rather, "The Tale of Genji" could provide a unique glimpse "into the life, indeed the soul, of another nation."

The most popular comic-book version has been reprinted, the "anime" is again in the spool-shops, there is a Genji computer game, a U.S. media group is planning an ambitious film that will "reinterpret and re-present" the Genji story, and two new English translations of the entire work are being completed.