political success by becoming the grandfather of an
night, to fi lter through the slats of the bamboo
emperor. The Akashi family experiences the most
blinds. When Genji reaches the Lady’s villa, he
dramatic elevation of all, by moving from a for-
remarks on the beauty of its surroundings amid
gotten household in the distant provinces to being
the pines, the roots of which cling to craggy rocks,
fi rmly ensconced in the imperial line.
and he notes the chirping of insects in the garden.
74 | The Tale of Genji
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hall with an imposing gabled roof of gray tiles and
an adjacent red and white bell tower. This cluster
of buildings represents the Sanmaidō, a type of hall
for performing Lotus Sutra samādhi meditative prac-
tice, which Genji fi rst saw when coming to shore in
Akashi. He noted its magnifi cence and its secluded
site next to a stream fl owing down f rom the hills,
perfect for concentrating the mind on the next
world. Here it is depicted beneath a low hanging
autumn moon rendered in silver paint that has oxi-
dized since the album was produced. The woman’s
villa on the right, and the meditation hall with the
moon on the left, occupy distinct space cells in the
album leaf, cordoned off by gold clouds, but they
are interconnected by the sound of the bell and the
light of the moon. Both structures are devoid of
fi gures, but they act metonymically as the absent
presences of the Lady and the Novitiate, each emit-
ting a distinct sound heard by Genji: the ringing of
the bell and the sound of the woman’s koto. In the
Touches of white, pink, and green pigment near the
latter case, Genji hears strains f rom the instrument
veranda connote the autumn fl owers and grasses,
played not by the Lady but by the tassels of a curtain
which in turn suggest the sound of the chirping
that accidentally brush across the strings. Indeed, it
insects among them. As Genji surveys the touching
will be nearly a year before Genji actually hears her
isolation of the scene, he ponders the sadness of life
play, later in this chapter. By then Genji has been
and hears the sound of a temple bell reverberating
pardoned by the Suzaku Emperor and summoned
on the wind.
back, the Akashi Lady is pregnant with his child and
The source of that sound appears in the upper
experiencing morning sickness, and Genji is vowing
left corner of the painting, a large Buddhist temple
to bring her and their child to the capital.
Chapter 13 | The Lady at Akashi | 75
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Our old sorrows come
“Truly,” thought Genji,
With the fi rst glimpse of the pines
remembering . . . .
Of Sumiyoshi,
In the rush of waves
As in the rush of memory
We lived, lost in such tempest
I think of the Age of the Gods.
As the god alone
Could calm — Sumiyoshi,
Shall I ever forgive thee?
cranston, p. 782
76
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14
Channel
Markers
Miotsukushi
Sumiyoshi no
Ge ni to oboshiidete
Matsu koso mono wa
Arakarishi
Kanashikere
Nami no mayoi ni
Kamiyo no koto o
Sumiyoshi no
Kakete omoeba
Kami o ba kakete
Wasure ya wa suru
77
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Exonerated f rom any wrongdoing and now on the
fl owers and maple leaves, hinting at the colorful
path to political supremacy back in the capital with
display the Lady is said to witness. A fi fth page boy
his own (secret) son on the throne after Emperor
follows behind, holding Genji’s long, orange-col-
Suzaku’s abdication, Genji decides to honor the ored train, which is decorated with a pattern of gods for his good fortune and makes a pilgrimage to
autumn leaves fl oating in a stream painted in gold.
Sumiyoshi. The Channel Markers chapter, the title
Genji is depicted in one of his most formal ensem-
of which refers to wooden posts that warn seafar-
bles anywhere in the album: the courtly costume of
ers of shallow water, describes a painfully poignant
civil offi
cials ( sokutai), consisting of a belted black
encounter between the Akashi Lady and Genji’s robe, a crown-style courtier’s hat ( kanmuri), and a entourage at the Sumiyoshi Shrine. In the album
wooden baton ( shaku). His high rank places him in
painting, her miniature fi gure, barely visible in the
an exalted group, the members of which are, like
boat at the top of the painting, appears f ramed
military offi
cials of the court, allowed to wear a
between the edge of the vessel and the bamboo
sword, which here extends f rom his left side.
blinds hanging f rom its wooden roof. She wears a
The formality of Genji’s costume and the
white robe and faces the direction of the shore, par-
solemnity of his pose refl ect the awe in which the
tially revealing her face and long tresses. A female
Sumiyoshi deity was held but also underscore the
attendant in a red robe with gold accents accompa-
importance of its role throughout the tale. Just
nies her, sitting outside the roofed shelter of the boat
prior to his visit to the Shrine, Genji comes to the
and facing her mistress. From this seaward vantage
realization that his fate has been guided all along
point, the Akashi Lady gazes across rippling blue
by the gods of Sumiyoshi. They are the deities to
waves to view something entirely unexpected — the
whom the Akashi Novitiate has long prayed, and
magnifi cent procession of Genji, newly elevated whom Genji entreated in his darkest hours amid the to the position of palace minister ( naidaijin), on
storm at Suma. The catalyst for Genji’s realization
his visit to Sumiyoshi. The spectacle gives her a
is not only his dramatic change in political fortune
glimpse of Genji’s glorious life at court, as she sees
but also his recollection of a prophecy he received
several men familiar f rom their time in exile, now
in childhood. Genji was told that he would one day
donning fi ne robes of various hues appropriate to
their recent promotions. Locals have gathered for a
glimpse of Genji, but the Akashi Lady, uninformed
of his visit and unrecognized as his wife, can only
lurk on the surrounding waters. Although she has
just given birth to Genji’s daughter, she has not yet
been brought to the city as he promised and must
regard him f rom afar as if he were a mere stranger.
A lengthy passage in the tale describes the spec-
tacle of Genji at Sumiyoshi through the eyes of the
Akashi Lady, which the painting manages to con-
vey in detail. A row of dark green shore pines and
a torii shrine gate mark the sacred precinct of the
Sumiyoshi shrine. Genji occupies the center of the
painting, processing directly toward the gate led by
four page boys with hair tied up in loops, dressed
identically in white pants with a red and gold stripe,
and carrying bows and arrows. Their dark upper
garments, with red undersleeves, are festooned with
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father three children: a son who would become sov-
and his loyal attendant Koremitsu that highlight
ereign of the realm (Emperor Reizei), another who
the debt owed to the Sumiyoshi gods. Koremitsu
would reach the position of Chancellor (Yūgiri),
had followed Genji into exile, leaving everything
and a daughter who would bring him his great-
behind in the capital to serve his lord in Suma and
est glory by becoming an imperial consort, giving
Akashi. Here he off ers a verse reminding Genji of
birth to a crown prince, and thus making Genji the
their time in isolation, a time he refers to as the
grandfather of an emperor. In the Channel Markers
“age of the gods,” suggesting their dependence
chapter, when the Akashi Lady gives birth to Genji’s
on the deity as well as the primeval, transcendent
only biological daughter, Genji’s fate appears to be
time evoked by the Sumiyoshi pines. Genji’s reply
following the prophecy. Although the focus of the
recalls the storms they endured while explaining
painting seems to be on Genji and his entourage,
his pilgrimage by asking rhetorically, “How could I
the Akashi Lady hovers above the scene as if in rec-
forsake the god now?” The calligraphy in the album
ognition of her role in this predetermined series of
highlights the incantatory power of the poem;
events. The horizontal beams of the shrine gate are
as if attempting to conjure the presence of the
positioned as if to point upward in her direction, and
Sumiyoshi deity, it begins in the upper right corner
she in turn directs her gaze toward Genji, linking
with darkly inked characters reading “Sumiyoshi
the two characters and suggesting the intervention
no” (
), while the word for “deity” appears at
of the gods in this fateful relationship. Against this
the top of the next line in the compound for “age
backdrop of predestination, however, the author of
of the gods” (kami yo
). The name is invoked
the tale emphasizes the Akashi Lady’s painful long-
again in the penultimate column of verse, where
ing and humility, which become the twin hallmarks
“sumiyoshi no kami” (
) constitutes a
of her character.
vertical column of kana that visually completes
In place of the poetic exchange between Genji
the shrine gate and marks the presence of the god,
and the Akashi Lady that eventually occurs in this
imbricating word and image into a powerful pre-
chapter, the album includes two poems by Genji
sentation of the deity.
Chapter 14 | Channel Markers | 79
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Let me be the one,
He recited this to himself as he
Then, to worm my way in
stepped down f rom the carriage.
To this deep wormwood,
Koremitsu walked in f ront, brushing
That I may call and fi nd again
away the dew with a riding crop
The unchanged heart of the grove.
as his lord entered. The drops of
cranston, p. 785
rain falling f rom the trees above felt
like a cold autumn shower. “I have
an umbrella.”
80
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15
A Ruined
Villa of
Tangled
Gardens
Tazunete mo
Ware koso towame
Michi mo naku
Fukaki yomogi no
Moto no kokoro o
to hitorigochite nao oritamaeba,
onsaki no tsuyu o muma no buchi
shite haraitsutsu iretatematsuru. Ama
sosogi mo, nao aki no shigure mekite
uchisosogeba, “Mikasa saburau.”
81
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The detailed description of the physical appearance
of Suetsumuhana earlier in the tale fi nds a coun-
terpart in several passages in Chapter Fifteen that
vividly evoke the ruinous state of disrepair into
which the lady’s estate has fallen during Genji’s
exile. The princess’s residence, inherited f rom her
deceased father, the Hitachi Prince, is described as
completely dilapidated: wooden roof planks over
the servants’ quarters have fallen away, while the
garden outside has become wild and overgrown.
Teeming vines threaten to overcome the house, and
waist-high satin-tail grasses and tangles of mugwort,
or “wormwood” ( yomogi), obscure any sign of the
paths and gardens that were once artfully main-
tained. Amid this dereliction, markers of order and
propriety are transgressed; parts of the earthen wall
surrounding the property have crumbled, allowing
Hanachirusato, but fate intervenes when along the
horses and oxen to trample through the garden way he notices a distinctive grove of trees and is and graze. The lack of human activity has embold-struck by the scent of wisteria fl owers, which he sees
ened foxes and screech owls as well as, the narrator
hanging f rom a large pine. The wisteria-wrapped
tells us, tree spirits, which roam the grounds. This
&n
bsp; pine, a long-standing auspicious motif associated
f rightening, gothic description is also paired with
with regal lineages, seems to have a magical eff ect on
imagery that evokes the hermitage of the classic
Genji and spurs him into action. Koremitsu confi rms
Chinese poet-scholar, through allusion to poems that this is indeed the Hitachi Villa, unrecognizable by Bai Juyi and Du Fu (712–770). Other descriptive
as it is, and Genji alights f rom his carriage to venture
phrases make the house and gardens metaphors into the dense thicket. Meanwhile, Suetsumuhana for the abandoned, aging woman. Indeed, as the
experiences her own magical intervention when a
younger attendants begin to depart, seeing no hope
daytime slumber brings a dream of her father, which
of Genji’s return, Suetsumuhana is left alone with
inspires her to have her surroundings cleaned, and
a handful of women described as ancient, gravelly
to soliloquize about the absence of her father:
voiced, and unkempt. In contrast to the house’s wild
Naki hito o
Sleeves of my yearning
exterior, however, there are hints of lost grandeur
Kouru tamoto no
For the one who is no more
inside, in the furnishings and valuable possessions
Hima naki ni
Have no time to dry,
handed down f rom the Hitachi Prince, but these
Aretaru noki no
And now are added the drippings
too are described as dusty and old, and associate the
Shizuku sae sou
That leak f rom my broken eaves.
Princess by extension with musty obsolescence. And
cranston, p. 785
yet through a combination of obstinacy, pride, and
loyalty to her father, the Princess perseveres against
As if in response, Genji recites to himself his
a torrent of mounting pressure to abandon her own poem as he emerges f rom his carriage, the home. The situation reaches a nadir when even her
verse inscribed on the album leaf. The character
longtime attendant Jijū leaves, and Suetsumuhana
for “wormwood” ( yomogi
) occupies the center
spends a lonely winter and spring enduring months
of the green colored poetry sheet, complement-
alone in a gloomy house.