35. The colored papers appear in the order of red, blue, yel-
25. Sanetaka fi rst made a “lineage chart” ( keizu) of Genji
low, pink, and green in the fi rst half of the album (Chapters
characters in 1488 after participating in lectures on the tale by
1–27), after which the sequence largely follows the order of red,
the renga poets Sōgi (1421–1502) and Botanka Shōhaku (1443–
pink, blue, yellow, green, until the end. Exceptions include the
1527), who assisted him, as did Gensei, the other coordinator of
two consecutive pink papers of Chapters 34 and 35, which tie
Sue Saburō’s album. Sanetaka’s Genji lineage chart was always
these chapters, Early Spring Greens pt. 1 and pt. 2, together. The
in high demand, and he made countless copies of it over the
grouping of the album leaves into two halves of twenty-seven
years for various individuals, including Prince Kunitaka, one
also would have accorded with a double-sided album format.
of the calligraphers of the 1510 album. See Ii Haruki, “Sane-
36. The project seems therefore to pave the way for the
taka no ‘Genji monogatari keizu’ seisaku,” in Genji monogatari
blending of “Chinese” and “Japanese” elements in Genji-related
chūsakushi no kenkyū: Muromachi zenki (Tokyo: Ōfūsha, 1980),
artworks, which can be seen in the earliest extant portrait-icon
507–63.
of Murasaki Shikibu, dated to 1560 and painted by Tosa Mitsuno-
26. Two commentaries f rom the early sixteenth century are
bu’s grandson Tosa Mitsumoto (1530–1569), and commissioned
attributed to Sanetaka: Rōkashō, based on previous commen-
by the grandson of Sanjōnishi Sanetaka, Kujō Tanemichi (1507–
taries and notes ( kikigaki) recorded during lectures by leading
1594); see McCormick, “Purple Displaces Crimson.”
Genji scholars, and Sairyūshō, Sanetaka’s original commen-
37. The ability to employ both gendered modes of writing
tary completed by his son, Sanjōnishi Kin’eda (1487–1563). See
was largely the privilege of men, who wrote offi
cial documents
Ii Haruki, ed., Sairyūshō, in Genji monogatari kochū shūsei, vol.
in Sino-Japanese characters and personal letters and texts in
7 (Tokyo: Ōfūsha, 1980), and Ii Haruki, ed., Rōkashō, in Genji the vernacular using kana, while woman were by and large
monogatari kochū shūsei, vol. 8 (Tokyo: Ōfūsha, 1983); and Lewis
encouraged to write only in kana. For more on these gendered
Cook, “Genre Trouble: Medieval Commentaries and Canon-
divisions, see Chino Kaori, “Gender in Japanese Art,” trans.
ization of The Tale of Genji,” in Envisioning The Tale of Genji : Joshua S. Mostow, in Gender and Power in the Japanese Visual Field, Media, Gender, and Cultural Production, ed. Haruo Shirane (New
ed. Joshua S. Mostow et. al. (Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i
York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 129–53.
Press, 2003), 17–34.
27. A list of the appropriate number of days to spend lectur-
38. Kasashima Tadayuki identifi ed fi ve of the six calli-
ing on each chapter appears at the beginning of Rōkashō; see Ii
gaphers in the album based on stylistic analysis, before the
Haruki, ed., Rōkashō, in Genji monogatari kochū shūsei, 9.
discovery of the diary entries and backing papers that con-
28. Janet Goff touches on the importance of renga to the
fi rmed the names; see Kasashima Tadayuki, “Hābādo Daigaku
reception of Genji in the medieval period, including the cre-
Bijutsukan zō ‘Genji monogatari gajō’ kotobagaki no shofū to
ation of Genji Noh plays; see her Noh Drama and The Tale of
seisaku nendai,” Kokka no. 1222 (1997): 53. The Album Calligra-
Genji: The Art of Allusion in Fifteen Classical Plays (Princeton, NJ: phy Key in the appendix to this book is based on the table in
Princeton University Press, 1991).
his article. Courtly calligraphy during the Muromachi period
29. A Genji-kotobagaki-renga was held, for example, at the
witnessed the birth of at least seventeen new stylistic lineages;
customary ninth-month renga gathering at the imperial palace
Shimatani Hiroyuki, “Sanjōnishi Sanetaka to Sanjō ryū,” Tōkyō
on Daiei 1 (1521) 9.13 ( Sanetaka kōki, 10:761).
Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan kiyō 26 (1990): 7–191.
30. A Genji kokumei renga was held at the imperial palace on
39. Eishō 6 (1509) Intercalary 8.20 ( Sanetaka kōki, 9:248). It
Daiei 5 (1525) 6.3 ( Sanetaka kōki, 11:290). For a Genji kokumei renga took less than four months to collect all fi fty-four completed
manuscript thought to have been composed in 1505, see Ii, Genji
calligraphy papers, helped by some especially speedy calligra-
monogatari chūsakushi no kenkyū: Muromachi zenki, 1131.
phers, such as Reizei Tamehiro, who brushed and returned his
31. On the overemphasis on renga and neglect of waka in
assigned excerpts in two weeks. At least one leaf, Chapter Ten,
scholarship on fi fteenth- and sixteenth-century Japanese lit-
by Jōhōji Kojō, required a correction, however, slowing down
erature, see Steven D. Carter, “Waka in the Age of Renga,”
the process. For more on the process of procuring the texts and
Monumenta Nipponica 36, no. 4 (1981): 425–44.
on the calligraphers, see McCormick, “Genji Goes West,” 70–71.
32. Gensei borrowed two volumes of the commentary from
40. Tomoko Sakomura examines the history and meaning
Sanetaka on Eishō 6 (1508) Intercalary 8.12 ( Sanetaka kōki, 9:245), of shikishi inscription and introduces several manuals on cal-roughly one week before they began organizing the calligraphy
ligraphic practice in Poetry as Image: The Visual Culture of Waka
assignments. The texts he borrowed covered Chapters One
in Sixteenth-Century Japan (Leiden: Brill, 2015).
20 | The Tale of Genji
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41. See the appendix in this book for a chart of the album’s 50. Daiei 6 (1526) 1.20 ( Sanetaka kōki, 12:130). He borrowed
calligraphers and their assigned paper colors and chapters. The
the manual f rom the courtier Kanroji Motonaga (1457–1527) on
calligraphy portion of the album was completed by Eishō 6
behalf of Sago no Tsubune, a female attendant to the Ashikaga
(1509) 11.19, when Sanetaka and Sue examined all of the papers
Shogunate; for this reference and a historical overview of the
together ( Sanetaka kōki, 9:283).
process behind Genji painting production, see Katagiri Yayoi,
42. Kamei Wakana discusses the meaning of the edokoro
“Bijutsu-shi ni okeru Genji mongatari: Genji-e no bamen sen-
azukari title in Mitsunobu’s day in “Hābādo Daigaku Bijutsu-
taku to zuyō no mondai o chūshin ni,” Genji monogatari kenkyū
kan zō ‘Genji monogatari gajō’ o meguru shomondai,” Kokka
shūsei vol. 14, ed. Masuda et al. (Tokyo: Kazama Shobō), 301–46.
no. 1222 (1997): 15–18.
51. For Michihide’s letter, se
e the documents on the reverse
43. See McCormick, Tosa Mitsunobu and the Small Scroll
of Sanetaka’s diary dating to Bunmei 8 (1476) 10.6–8 ( Sanetaka
in Medieval Japan for information on the artist’s oevre and
kōki, 16:156).
patronage. Among Mitsunobu’s innovations was a new form
52. The calligraphy attributions were made by later con-
of narrative scroll for the representation of short stories ( ko-e
noisseurs but based on stylistic comparison to extant texts by
or “small picture”) as well as the genre of screen painting
these same individuals, they seem correct.
now known as “Scenes In and Around the Capital” ( rakuchū
53. The calligraphy of the text of the Picture Contest, Chap-
rakugaizu), the fi rst known reference to which describes a work
ter Seventeen, has been attributed to Nakamikado Nobumasu
made by Mitsunobu in 1506 for the Asakura daimyo of Echizen
(dates unknown), the third son of the courtier Nakamikado
(the entry for Eishō 3.12.22 in Sanetaka kōki, 8:675).
Nobutane (1442–1525). Nobumasu’s participation, combined
44. Chino Kaori, “Hābādo Daigaku Bijutsukan zō ‘Genji
with his father’s well-documented patronage of Mitsunobu,
monogatari gajō’ o meguru shomondai,” Kokka no. 1222 (1997),
suggests that the project may have been for this aristocratic fam-
esp. 12–14 for an analysis of his painting style.
ily. Given the frequency with which women in the provinces
45. They all worked on the Illustrated Legends of the Kitano
requested copies of the tale, one can imagine that the proj-
Tenjin Shrine ( Kitano Tenjin engi emaki, 1503), a set of three hand-ect might have been for someone like Nobutane’s daughter, a
scrolls with calligraphy by Sanetaka, title labels by Emperor
woman later known as the nun Jukei (ca. 1568), who in 1508 mar-
Go-Kashiwabara, and paintings by Tosa Mitsunobu, all coordi-
ried the warrior Imagawa Ujichika (1471?–1526). If residing far
nated by Gensei on behalf of the patron. Entries in Sanetaka’s
from the capital in the Imagawa-controlled eastern provinces,
diary record the process of production, including discussions
a copy of The Tale of Genji would be something of a lifeline for between Sanetaka and Mitsunobu that touched on classic
such a young woman, as a source of entertainment and learning.
examples of scroll painting f rom earlier periods, providing a
54. The copies were done by Sumiyoshi Gukei (1631–1705)
glimpse of the presumably numerous conversations that took
in 1675 and consist of forty-one drawings of designs for Genji
place regarding the production of the Genji Album as well, but
painting book covers and for shikishi. The designs appear side
that went unrecorded. Entries f rom Sanetaka’s diary related to
by side in a handscroll. For a detailed introduction and analysis,
the Kitano Tenjin engi project begin on Bunki 1 (1501) 8.26 and
see Ryūsawa Aya, “Tōkyō Kokuritsu Hakubutsukan zō ‘Genji
continue until Bunki 3 (1503) 5.12.
monogatari sasshi hyōshi e mohon’ ni tsuite,” Museum no. 643
46. Mitsunobu discussed Genji with the prominent court-
(2013): 25–50.
ier and scholar Nakanoin Michihide (1428–1494), for example,
55. Ryūsawa Aya considers the logic of narrative painting
who noted the meeting in his diary in an entry f rom Bunmei
scene selection on the f ront and back of painted fans and book
18 (1486) 6.27; see Jūrin’in naifu ki, in Shiryō sanshū. Kokiroku hen covers in “Genji-e no hyō to ura: senmenga to sasshi hyōshi-e o
(Tokyo: Zoku Gunsho Ruijū Kanseikai, 1972), 236. The waka
chūshin ni,” Kinjō Nihongo Nihon bunka 80 (2013): 1–11.
gatherings Mitsunobu joined include one in 1491, in which
56. One type of premodern Genji painting that tends to
Gensei participated as well, where the focal point was a new
include such examples are small handscrolls in the monochrome
Hitomaro portrait painted by Mitsunobu himself. A poem by
ink ( hakubyō) often attributed to female artists, and likely made
the artist appears in an original manuscript f rom the event; see
for female readers. See Melissa McCormick, “Genji no ma o
Iwasaki Yoshiki, “Tosa Mitsunobu no bungei katsudō: Yōmeidō
nozoku: Hakubyō Genji monogatari emaki to nyōbō no shiza,”
Bunko zō ‘Sanjō ku’ uta to renga,” Gobun 47 (1986): 36–37.
in Genji monogatari o yomitoku 1: Egakareta Genji monogatari, ed.
47. A thorough account of the types of pigments and mate-
Kawazoe Fusae and Mitamura Masako (Tokyo: Kanrin Shobō,
rials used in the album’s paintings and calligraphy papers is
2006), 101–-29; and “Monochromatic Genji: The Hakubyō Tra-
Katherine Eremin, Jens Stenger, and Melanie Li Green, “Raman
dition and Female Commentarial Culture,” in Envisioning The
Spectroscopy of Japanese Artists’ Materials: The Tale of Genji
Tale of Genji: Media, Gender, and Cultural Production, ed. Haruo
by Tosa Mitsunobu,” Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 37 (2006):
Shirane (New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 101–28.
1119–24.
57. Before the identity of the patron of the 1510 Genji was
48. Takahashi Tōru, Monogatari to e no enkinhō (Tokyo: Per-
known, Ikeda Shinobu speculated that it was commissioned
ikan Sha, 1991).
by elite men of the courtier or warrior class based on, among
49. One such manual that includes a description of possi-
other things, the many scenes of homosocial male gatherings
ble scenes for reproduction thought to have been created in the
in the album; see her essay in “Hābādo Daigaku Bijutsukan zō
medieval period is translated and discussed in Miyeko Murase,
‘Genji monogatari gajō’ o meguru shomondai,” Kokka no. 1222
Iconography of the Tale of Genji (New York: Weatherhill, 1983).
(1997): 22.
Introduction| 21
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The Tale of Genji Album of 1510
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This son’s boyish appearance, how
bittersweet that it must change, but
when the youth turned twelve, His
Majesty saw to the initiation himself,
attending to various details and
adding unprecedented touches to
the ceremony.
24
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1
The Lady<
br />
of the
Paulownia-
Courtyard
Chambers
Kiritsubo
Kono kimi no onwarawa sugata,
ito kaemōku obosedo, jūni
nite ongenpuku shitamau. Itachi
oboshii to namite, kagiri aru koto
ni koto o soesase tamau.
25
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The opening scene of the Genji Album captures the
fi nal moments of Genji’s “boyish appearance,” the
loss of which is lamented in the accompanying tex-
tual excerpt. In keeping with pictorial conventions,
gold clouds part and architectural barriers fall away
to reveal Genji at his initiation ceremony where his
long tresses will be shortened and tucked inside
his courtier’s cap, modeled by the six men in for-
mal attire who attend to the ceremony. The picture
focuses on young Genji and his adolescent hair-
style, showing his hair trailing down his shoulders
f rom loops above his ears tied with white ribbons
that f rame his innocent-looking face. Genji’s coun-
son’s passage into adulthood. Until this moment
tenance demonstrates the artist Tosa Mitsunobu’s
Genji had barely left his father’s side and had served
mastery of the conventions for depicting nobil-
as a poignant reminder of the Emperor’s deceased
ity in courtly narrative painting: white pigment love known as the Kiritsubo Consort (Lady of the ( gofun) f rom ground shells to paint the face, pre-Paulownia-Courtyard Chambers). Much of the
cisely drawn lines for the eyes and nose, with bushy
opening chapter of The Tale of Genji describes an
eyebrows and red lips, amounting to an abstract
all-consuming love aff air between the Emperor and
but subtly expressive visage. The solemnity of the
Genji’s mother, a woman of lesser social standing
occasion is conveyed through details of comport-
than his senior Consort, Kokiden. Their relation-
ment: the slight tilt of the head, the fi rmly grasped
ship refl ects the Emperor’s attempt at an assertion
baton, and the overall compliant pose of the initiate.
of political control over the Kokiden Consort and
Furnishings in the picture include a brocade-covered
The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion Page 6
