TOKYO (Reuters) - Writer and translator Edward Seidensticker, known for his English version of an 11th century Japanese novel often cited as the world's oldest, died in a Tokyo hospital at the weekend, Kyodo news agency said. He was 86.

Born in 1921 in Colorado, Seidensticker learned Japanese at a U.S. Navy language school during World War Two, coming to Japan as a Marine, then later as a diplomat and scholar.

He completed a translation in 1976 of "The Tale of Genji", a story of court life in Japan's Heian period written by Murasaki Shikibu, the daughter of a provincial governor.

Seidensticker was also acclaimed for translations of more modern Japanese works, including those by Yukio Mishima and Junichiro Tanizaki, and for his own writings on Tokyo.

His interpretations of novels by Yasunari Kawabata, including "Snow Country" are widely believed to have contributed to the novelist being awarded a Nobel Prize for literature.