The Tale of Genji- A Visual Companion
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The older sister on the losing side:
Saishō replied in consolation:
All for the cherry
Now they are in bloom,
Was my heart in a tumult
Now they scatter on the wind —
Over the wind —
Such are these blossoms;
And yet I had to own these blossoms
Losing cannot bring so deep
Wasted little thought on me.
Regret for contested fl owers.
cranston, pp. 906–7
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44
Bamboo
River
Takekawa
Makegata no Himegimi,
Onkata no Saishō no Kimi,
Sakura yue
Saku to mite
Kaze ni kokoro no
Katsu wa chirinuru
Sawagu kana
Hana nareba
Omoigumanaki
Makuru o fukaki
Hana to miru miru
Urami to mo sezu
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While the previous chapter concerned Kōbai’s two sisters sitting across f rom each other at a Go attempt to arrange marriages for his daughters, board in the shadow of a cherry tree in full bloom.
Chapter Forty-Four focuses on the eff orts of
In a composition similar to that of Chapter Forty-
Tamakazura, now forty-seven and a widow of Three’s painting, the activity is f ramed within a Higekuro, to secure the futures of her two daugh-single bay of the residence f rom a high vantage
ters without any male backing at court. Like point, through fl oating gold clouds and over the Kōbai, her half brother, her decisions are driven
blossoms of the tree on the left. The cherry tree
by memories of events f rom her personal history
is the thematic subject of this picture and of the
and lingering romantic regrets. At the start of the
poems in the album’s calligraphy, just as the plum
chapter, numerous suitors vie for the hand of her
functioned symbolically in the previous painting in
older daughter, most persistently Yūgiri’s young-
the album. The sisters have wagered possession of
est son, called the Lesser Captain. He bef riends
the tree as the winner’s reward. Apparently, owner-
Tamakazura’s youngest son, making himself a fi x-
ship of the cherry tree has been contested between
ture at the household in the hopes of catching a
them since childhood, and they eagerly compete,
glimpse of the girl, which he fi nally gets one spring
cheered on boisterously by respective teams of
evening. The scene shown in the album painting
ladies-in-waiting. The older sister, the fi gure facing
takes place on that same evening and depicts the
outward, wears robes in the “cherry blossom style,”
198 | The Tale of Genji
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with a white, diaphanous robe layered over fabrics
The six poems, the fi rst two of which are
of reds in varying tones to produce the pink tinted
included in the album’s calligraphy, represent an
hue of a cherry blossom. Her garment spreads unusual moment of female-centered group poetry out voluminously behind her as she leans forward,
composition, which we have not encountered since
intently pushing a stone across the board with two
the Akashi women’s pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi in
fi ngers. Although she seems to embody the cherry
Chapter Thirty-Five. The poets are not only the sis-
tree, alas, it is the younger sister, dressed in the
ters but also the ladies-in-waiting, Saishō and Taifu,
beautiful yellow robe embellished with patterns in
and even two pages — one unnamed girl who goes
gold, who emerges victorious. Some of the ladies’
into the garden to retrieve fallen blossoms and a girl
supporters are seated alongside them, closer to the
named Nareki. The lively round of spoken poetry
veranda, while a glimpse of a third attendant’s robe
matches the tenor of an unusual prologue to this
and hair to the right of the younger sister suggests
chapter, unique among Genji chapters, in which the
yet more fi gures inside.
narrator directly addresses the reader, explaining
The majority of Genji paintings that illustrate
that the story she is about to tell was related to her
this scene include a voyeur — the abovementioned
by former female attendants f rom Tamakazura’s
Lesser Captain, who loses his heart to the older sis-
household. The series of cherry-blossom poems
ter. According to the passage in the tale, the Lesser
re-create a primal scene of female literary pro-
Captain glimpses the older sister in her cherry-blos-
duction by ladies-in-waiting, the storytellers and
som attire and imagines her as a living memento
narrators of Genji itself. The focus on the sisters and
of the fl owers after they fall, alluding to a classical
their attendants in the poems that are included in
poem to articulate her beauty. In this painting, the
the album also seems fi tting for a chapter exploring
artist has eliminated the fi gure of the voyeur entirely
one mother’s nuptial negotiations for her daughters.
and has painted the scene f rom a perspective too
The results of Tamakazura’s eff orts, however, leave
high for it to be taken as approximating the Lesser
much to be desired. Requests for her eldest daugh-
Captain’s view. Instead, the composition encour-
ter f rom Retired Emperor Reizei prove impossible
ages the viewer to see the sisters f rom a wider angle
for Tamakazura to dismiss. She ends up infuriating
and a context broader than that of one moment of
numerous suitors and their fathers when she sends
infatuation. Ultimately, nothing of consequence the girl to be Reizei’s new consort. By doing so, comes f rom the young man’s gaze in the narrative,
she appeases the man to whom she herself was
as this son of Yūgiri does not act as aggressively on
once promised by Genji until Higekuro inter-
his desire as Genji did after espying two women
vened. The oldest sister bears Reizei a princess and
playing Go (Chapter Three), or as Kashiwagi did
prince, but her children never ascend the throne,
after fatefully glimpsing the Third Princess among
and the attention they all receive f rom Reizei dis-
similar cherry blossoms (Chapter Thirty-Five). The
turbs his senior Umetsubo and Kokiden Consorts.
Tamakazura sends the younger sister to serve as
the peeping courtier quietly withdraws, while the
the Principal Handmaid of the reigning Emperor,
women express no concern that they may have been
where the young lady is said to enjoy a stylish life-
seen. Instead, the action in the tale stays focused on
style and moderate success. Of the two sisters,
the dynamics of the two sisters for several days and
then, the eldest fi nds herself in the less favorable
includes a lengthy sequence of six poems composed
marital circumstances, a situation foreshadowed
on the subject of cherry branches, which have by the outcome of the Go match depicted in the become endangered by the wind.
album painting.
Chapter 44 | Bamboo River | 199
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A biwa lute was set out in f ront
this.” The lovely glow of her face,
of her and she was turning over
which peeked out f rom behind the
the plectrum with her fi ngertips,
plectrum, was utterly adorable.
toying with it. When the moon
washburn, p. 942
suddenly emerged f rom behind a
cloud and brightly lit up the scene,
she said, “I may not have a fan, but
I can still call forth the moon with
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45
The Divine
Princess at
Uji Bridge
Hashihime
Biwa o mae ni okite, bachi o
temasaguri ni shitsutsu itaru ni,
kumogakuretaru tsuki no niwaka ni
akaku sashiidetareba, “Ōgi narade,
kore shite mo tsuki wa maneki
tsubekarikeri,” tote, sashinozokitaru
kao, imijiu rōtage ni nioiyaka
narubeshi.
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Chapter Forty-Five is the fi rst of ten chapters in
the tale set partially in a locale south of the capi-
tal called Uji, a name that can also mean “gloom,”
or “sadness” ( ushi). Uji is near the banks of a
noisy, turbulent river, and is described in the tale
as mist-covered and rustic. There Kaoru discovers
two sisters, princesses, living an isolated existence
with only their father to care for them. The father
is Prince Hachinomiya, who is said to be a devout
Buddhist practitioner living an awakened existence
without taking formal Buddhist vows. Of the two
post-Genji protagonists in the tale, Kaoru and Niou,
Kaoru is the spiritual, introspective one, ever seek-
ing philosophical guidance. When he fi rst hears of
the prince and his daughters, Kaoru is intrigued by
the possibility that the prince could become his reli-
gious guide. With his royal pedigree — as the eighth
son of the Kiritsubo Emperor, Hachinomiya is
Genji’s half brother — Hachinomiya proves to be a
musicians are none other than the prince’s daugh-
kindred spirit, a nobleman with a similar sensibility
ters, he continues listening surreptitiously, leading
as well as profound Buddhist insights. His elegant
to the most famous kaimami scene in the tale.
demeanor and poignant surroundings only add to
The album painting shows Kaoru standing
his mystique. Kaoru begins moving between his
before a bamboo fence near the sisters’ room, hav-
secular life at court and this spiritual realm he has
ing been led there by a watchman, in the familiar
discovered in Uji, forging a bond of f riendship with
pose of the voyeur occupying the lower right corner
the prince. One autumn night after he has been visit-
of the composition. Shown in profi le and dressed in
ing for three years, Kaoru approaches the residence
informal hunting robes and a tall cap, he presses
and hears strains of koto and biwa music. He learns
up against the fence, enthralled by what he sees. A
that Hachinomiya has left for a seven-day retreat at
loss of pigment has resulted in an underdrawing of
a temple in the Uji mountains but realizing that the
Kaoru’s left hand appearing near his face and touch-
ing the fence. The hand conveys Kaoru’s degree
of absorption, while also referencing the original
text in which he is said to “push open” a door in
the fence. A hazy mist hangs over the garden, but
he spots women on the veranda and in the interior
room, f ramed by blinds only partially raised.
The narration in the tale describes how suddenly
the moon emerges from behind the clouds, lighting
the scene with brilliant clarity. Kaoru watches and
listens as one of the sisters reacts to the sudden illumi-
nation. She likens the plectrum in her right hand to a
fan, which it resembles in shape, alluding to a poem
from the eleventh-century Wakan rōei shū that was
itself was derived from a phrase in the Tendai medi-
tational treatise The Great Stillness and Contemplation
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( Maka shikan). The Wakan rōei shū poem uses the is tempered through its presentation within light-hidden moon as a metaphor for veiled truth, which
hearted contexts, and in this case accompanied by
could be revealed through the device of the fan that
endearing smiles. Here the banter, stemming from
acts as its double and thus suggests the teachings of
esoteric poems and commentaries, refl ects the infl u-
Buddhist nonduality. Here the sister misquotes the
ence of the girl’s upbringing by a father immersed
original poem and makes her plectrum-fan not a
in Buddhist texts, as Dennis Washburn points out,
substitute for the moon but a device to “call forth”
and it also provides an appropriate method to arouse
the actual moon, and she playfully takes credit for
the interest of the spiritually oriented Kaoru. The
eliciting the moon’s sudden emergence.
moon as a symbol of enlightenment is integrated
Although the other sister is not depicted in the
into a standard kaimami template for an awakening
album painting, in the tale she is said to be lying over
of desire, again fi ttingly for a character who lacks the
her koto in the same room, and she teases her sibling
usual worldly inclinations. Accordingly, the kaimami
about her poetic allusion. A biwa plectrum ( bachi)
scene does not result in an erotic encounter, but to
does not call forth the moon, she states, but a dancer’s
a revelation that leaves Kaoru existentially unsettled.
baton (also called a bachi) does bring on the “setting
After Kaoru awkwardly attempts to exchange words
sun.” Her reference is to the bugaku dance of “The
with the sisters, an old female attendant comes
Masked Warrior King,” the climax of which involves
forward to deal with the unexpected visitor. The
the dragon-headed performer gazing up toward the
woman is Bennokimi, who happens to be the daugh-
sun while lifting his baton in the air, in time with the
ter of the late Kashiwagi’s wet nurse, and thus is the
beating of the drum. (Remarkably, the producers
milk-sibling of Kaoru’s true father. She was present
of the album included precisely this moment of the
at Kashiwagi’s deathbed and became the confi dante
dance in the painting for Chapter Forty of Murasaki’s
to whom he disclosed that he was actually the father
sutra dedication ceremony, showing the dancer with
of Kaoru, believed by the world to be Genji’s son.
baton in hand, beckoning the radiant sun as repre-
Bennokimi reveals all of this to the young man on
sented by the fi nial of the drum.)
a subsequent visit, handing over several old let-
The biwa-playing sister defends herself after her
ters between his mother the Third Princess and
sister’s comment, pointing out that there is indeed
Kashiwagi. Kaoru goes to see his mother, observes
a connection between the biwa and the moon, her with a critical eye, and ultimately decides to keep referring to the “half-moon” acoustic holes in her
his newfound knowledge of his parentage to himself.
instrument. The painting helps make this connec-
The identity of the sisters (the elder, known as
tion to the fuller text of the tale by prominently
Oigimi, and the younger, known as Nakanokimi)
including the details of the biwa. The two half-moon
remains ambiguous throughout this chapter, lead-
holes on either side of the instrument’s golden ing to a long-standing debate over the identity of the strings appear just beneath the sister’s raised hand,
biwa player in this scene. The album painting shows