The Fuji TV television station has posted a 14-second commercial that announces the January 15 premiere of the Genji Monogatari Sennenki Genji (The Tale of Genji: A Millennium-Old Journal: Genji) television anime series. Acclaimed anime director Osamu Dezaki (Ashita no Joe, Aim For The Ace!, Lupin III movies) is adapting the classic Japanese novel about a motherless prince and his descendants.

The anime was originally planned as an adaptation of Asakiyumemishi - The Tale of Genji, Waki Yamato's shōjo manga retelling of the novel. However, Dezaki decided that he wanted to bypass the manga version, and write and direct a more direct interpretation of the original novel itself. The anime will celebrate the thousand-year anniversary of the original novel, although the exact date of its writing is unknown.