immersed in their own activity and seemingly
unaware that they are being watched. Spatial par-
titions including bamboo blinds ( sudare), a standing
curtain ( kichō), and a folding screen ( byōbu) are per-
fectly arranged so that nothing obstructs Genji’s
view. The composition artfully includes exposed
architectural beams and interior furnishings to con-
struct space cells within the scene. Three fi gures in
the room are contained within one such cell, which
includes an oil lamp with red fl ame, and a Go board
with tiny black and white stones in play. Lamplight
is a common feature of kaimami scenes, which are
often nocturnal, drawing the voyeur to an object
bathed in atmospheric light.
The scene within Genji’s fi eld of vision reveals
striking contrasts between the two women facing
off at the game board. His gaze fi rst lands on the
elusive Utsusemi, the woman he has been pursu-
ing, and the fi gure closest to him in the image. He
34 | The Tale of Genji
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intermediary role in the episode. Although aware of
his sister’s determination never to meet with Genji
again, Kogimi nevertheless admits Genji directly
into her chambers after the ladies have retired for
the night. Utsusemi, however, is too quick; she sees
Genji’s shadowy fi gure moving about in the darkness
and slips away, leaving behind nothing but a sheer
robe. Genji fi nds only the somnolent daughter of
the Vice Governor. Despite being disappointed and
embarrassed, he pretends that she was his intended
target all along and makes the most of the situation.
When Genji returns to his Nijō mansion he takes
with him the thin robe Utsusemi left behind and
suggests its similarity to a cicada’s empty shell in a
poem he sends to her. The woman too uses the met-
aphor to characterize herself in a verse she inscribes
the tale as having been raised with little attention
on the margins of Genji’s letter, hence the name
to social decorum and appears rather uncouth to
“Utsusemi” by which this character and this chapter
Genji’s eyes, though not without charm. It is this
came to be known. Other Genji paintings illustrate
guileless young woman who falls prey to Genji’s
the scene of Utsusemi in the act of fl eeing and “molt-
advances when the savvier Utsusemi fl ees the scene
ing her shell.” This album instead showcases Genji’s
and leaves her stepdaughter in her place.
fi rst act of voyeurism. At the same time, pictorial
Genji’s fi eld of vision also includes Kogimi, elements provide a subtle commentary that alludes Utsusemi’s younger brother. Seated on a tatami to Genji’s relationship to the two women. The fold-mat, he is depicted in profi le with a longish face
ing screen in the inner chamber, shown here in a
that resembles that of his sister. Indeed, this sim-
detail, depicts green bamboo on a gold ground,
ilarity provokes Genji’s interest in the boy, and he
evoking Utsusemi’s said similarity to “supple bam-
spends the night in the company of the youth after
boo” because of her unyielding resistance to Genji’s
being rejected by his sister. Here Kogimi wears the
overtures. Meanwhile, a gold cloud hovering above
long ponytail of a boy who has not yet undergone
Genji connects outside and inside, pointing past
a coming-of-age ceremony, reminiscent of images
Utsusemi to her stepdaughter, with whom Genji
of young men known as chigo, acolytes and objects
will consummate this act of looking. The young girl
of aff ection for Buddhist monks in popular tales of
serves as the negative counterpart to Utsusemi; she
the medieval period. The inclusion of the boy in
receives not even a single missive from Genji after
the kaimami scene recalls the homoerotic leitmo-
their tryst, while Utsusemi will continue to fascinate
tif in these two chapters while acknowledging his
him until they meet again in Chapter Sixteen.
Chapter 3 | A Molted Cicada Shell | 35
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This lay devotee
Practices the Way — oh, let
It be our guide:
Even in the lives to come
Do not betray our deep vow.
cranston, p. 702
36
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4
The Lady
of the
Evening
Faces
Yūgao
Ubasoku ga
Okonau michi o
Shirube ni te
Komu yo mo fukaki
Chigiri tagau na
37
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The season turns to autumn and Genji, still in his
of his stature. The striking red robe in the painting,
seventeenth year, continues to pursue an array embellished with a gold fl oral pattern, is far f rom of women, including Lady Rokujō, a widow of understated, however, and it falls open casually to exalted status with whom he has been carrying on
reveal the edge of a lightly colored undergarment.
a passionate aff air. On his way to visit Rokujō he
Yūgao faces Genji, her hair cascading down the back
encounters a character of ambiguous origins known
of her robe for the viewer to see.
as Yūgao (Evening Faces), named after the white
What appears to be a romantic interlude
fl owering vine that climbs the woven fence of her
between Genji and Yūgao is in fact suff used with
humble residence. Most illustrations of this chapter
religious overtones. As Genji pledges vows of love
depict Yūgao’s gift to Genji of a fan inscribed with
that will last into the next life, he overhears an old
a coquettish poem accompanied by a white blos-
man intermittently intoning the name of the future
som. The painting in this album instead represents
Buddha Maitreya and thumping his forehead to the
a unique moment in the Yūgao chapter just before
ground in ritual preparation for a pilgrimage to the
their aff air takes a turn for the supernatural. As we
Yoshino Mountains. Inspired by this chanting, Genji
shall see, this encounter culminates in one of the
composes the poem that appears in the album leaf,
most spine-tingling episodes in Heian literature, a verse that deftly alludes to vows both r
omantic with the young woman’s sudden death caused by a
and Buddhist. The poem begins with the term uba-
malevolent spirit.
soku, a word derived f rom the Sanskrit term upāsaka
Genji is shown at Yūgao’s residence on the fi f-
that denotes a lay devotee who performs Buddhist
teenth day of the eighth month. He has become
austerities in the mountains and aims to acquire
utterly enchanted by Yūgao, in part because she may
magico-religious powers. The pictorial counterpart
be the long-lost lover of Tō no Chūjō, his f riend,
brother-in-law, and rival. The reader fi rst hears of
this mysterious woman, and her daughter fathered
by Tō no Chūjō, in Chapter Two, during the “rainy
night appraisal.” There, Tō no Chūjō explains that
she suddenly disappeared after receiving threaten-
ing messages f rom his wife’s family. In this image, it
is before dawn, and the working-class neighborhood
where the lady has been hiding fi lls with sounds to
which Genji is unaccustomed: the rough voices of
laborers, the thumping of a mortar and pestle hull-
ing rice, and the dull rhythms of women pounding
cloth. Gold clouds and architectural lines divide
the painting into distinct quadrants bearing poetic
motifs associated with the auditory landscape of
autumn, namely the pounding of cloth ( kinuta), and
geese ( kari). The garden teems with delicate pink and
yellow fl owers, and the painting evokes details cited
by Genji in the tale, most notably Chinese bamboo,
dew sparkling on the plants, and a cacophony of
chirping insects. In keeping with a theme of hidden
identity that runs throughout this chapter, Genji
is said to disguise his status by wearing a hunting
robe ( kariginu), a garment rarely worn by someone
38 | The Tale of Genji
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dant Koremitsu. Yūgao has been attacked, it seems,
by the angry spirit of Genji’s lover Lady Rokujō.
The language describing this scene is reminiscent of
a ghost story, with a chilling wind that extinguishes
the oil lamps, and creaking pines outside preceding
another brush with the phantom woman as she
sweeps in to deal the fi nal blow to Yūgao. Genji must
face the gruesome task of disposing of his lover’s
corpse and concealing his involvement in the tragic
and potentially scandalous situation. He arranges
for her body to be taken to a temple in the Eastern
Hills of the capital for Buddhist rites and cremation,
and later travels there incognito for one last glimpse
of his lover. Despite taboos concerning contact
with a dead body, Genji tenderly lifts her hand with
no sense of repulsion, overcome with sadness and
regret. He later refl ects that lying there she looked
no diff erent f rom when he had last seen her, “still
to this poem, the fi gure in the lower left of the paint-
wrapped in my own crimson robe.” The vibrant red
ing, is unique among extant Genji paintings. The
robe Genji wears in the album painting is the same
elderly fi gure clasps his hands in prayer and faces
one that will be draped over the corpse of the young
a simple wooden altar outfi tted with white paper
woman seated before him — a subtle and unsettling
streamers ( gohei) that signify ritual purifi cation and
foreshadowing of events to come.
sacred space. The mystical atmosphere conjured by
Like Utsusemi before her, Yūgao f retted over her
his presence is echoed by the fi gure of Yūgao. At the
low social status and refused to reveal her identity.
time of the album’s creation, Yūgao was the subject
At the same time, the text suggests an even more
of a popular Noh play in which the character reap-
undistinguished status, likening her to a lady of
pears after her death as a ghost seeking Buddhist
the evening by associating her with the lowly “eve-
salvation. The same poem that graces the calligra-
ning fl ower” that blossoms only after dark. Yūgao
phy leaf here appears word for word near the climax
declares that she is “nothing but a fi sher’s child,”
of the play as Yūgao embarks on her spiritual path;
an allusion to a famous poem associated with a
its inclusion suggests how the theatrical, spectral
category of peripatetic female entertainer. In fact,
version of this character found expression in medi-
Yūgao’s father was of high rank, but his death left
eval painting.
her without support. When the phantom woman
Genji’s conspicuous red garment also foretells
attacks in the abandoned villa, she rebukes Genji
the death of Yūgao. According to the tale, after the
for dallying with a woman of such low status.
scene depicted here, Genji whisks Yūgao away to
Apparently Genji’s gravest sin lay in his transgres-
a deserted villa, where he has a disturbing dream
sion of social boundaries. The chapter ends several
of a beautiful woman violently shaking his lover,
weeks after Yūgao’s passing. Its fi nal scene witnesses
only to awaken to discover Yūgao convulsing and
Genji returning the robe likened to a “cicada shell”
to Utsusemi, thus closing the curtain on two of the
panic, drawing his sword and calling for his atten-
most famous amorous adventures of Genji’s youth.
Chapter 4 | The Lady of the Evening Faces | 39
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Where is the garden
For this young grass to grow in?
Since it cannot know,
The dewdrop that one day must leave
Finds no quiet space to fade.
cranston, p. 708
40
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5
Little Purple
Gromwell
Wakamurasaki
Oitatan
Arika mo shiranu
Wakakusa o
Okurasu tsuyu zo
Kien sora naki
41
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Among the early chapters in The Tale of Genji,
which three fi gures attempt to retrieve Murasaki’s
Chapter Five is notable for introducing Murasaki,
sparrow. The tiny bird has been let loose f rom its
the young woman
who will go on to become cage by the girl attendant Inuki, shown standing Genji’s primary companion and greatest love. Their
on the veranda in a pink robe. Genji watches as
encounter is initiated by a bout of fever that causes
the older nursemaid Shōnagon jumps into the f ray.
Genji to seek the healing powers of a Buddhist Dressed in a bright yellow garment, she stands near ascetic living in the northern mountains. His jour-the edge of the veranda raising a hand to call the
ney there gives rise to some of the most evocative
bird depicted in mid-fl ight. While the attractiveness
descriptions in the tale and sets the stage for the
of all the ladies is duly noted, it is Mursasaki who
scene depicted in the album. As if the ordinary leaves Genji mesmerized. She is the small girl facing rules of time do not pertain to this mountain site,
him directly, whom Genji correctly surmises could
the spring blossoms that have already faded in the
be no more than ten years of age. He notes the way
capital burst back to life at higher altitudes. Hilltop
her hair falls loose against her shoulders, spreading
vistas aff ord Genji a new and invigorating perspec-
out like a fan, and he fi nds her face, reddened f rom
tive of the surrounding landscape, views that are
wiping away tears, utterly adorable.
described with Buddhist imagery that resonates
But what attracts Genji to Murasaki most of all,
with larger themes in the tale. Genji’s imperial par-
and what drives his subsequent abduction of the
entage and right to ascend the throne, for example,
child (an act deemed shocking by every character
is here manifest in references to divine rulership; the
who witnesses it in the tale), is the girl’s striking
text equates Genji with a Buddhist ruler or Dharma
resemblance to Fujitsubo, the consort of Genji’s
King who only appears in the world once every three
father, the Emperor. Genji has been engaged in an
thousand years. The Buddhist nature of this chapter
aff air with Fujitsubo, now pregnant with a child
suggests that the worldly events and Genji’s seem-
he rightly suspects to be his own. A familial tie
ingly immoral acts are in fact being determined by
substantiates the resemblance between the two
unseen forces, all part of a preordained plan.