The emakimono picture scrolls consisted of two designs. These two designs were either pictures that were painted on a scroll with text added to the same scroll or a number of paintings that accompanied passages of text and were joined together in a scroll. The first known picture scroll was produced in Japan during either the late ninth or tenth century. The Genji Monogatari picture scroll, however, was constructed at the beginning of the twelfth century. It is said to be the oldest surviving picture scroll depicting the novel The Tale of Genji. Not only is the Genji Monogatari Emaki the oldest surviving monogatari scroll but it is also the oldest surviving non-Buddhist scroll in Japan. There is no exact date to when the scroll was constructed but it is estimated to being sometime between