Akiko Yosano and The Tale of Genji

Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji
"Akiko on a Certain Day," from the early years of the Taisho period. Courtesy of
Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd.
Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji
G. G. Rowley
Ann Arbor 2000

Center for Japanese Studies
The University of Michigan
Open access edition funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities/
Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Humanities Open Book Program.
Copyright © 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan
Published by the Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan

202 S Thayer St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104-1608
Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies

Number 28
PERMISSIONS
Material for chapter three draws upon an article "Literary Canon and National Iden-
tity: The Tale ofGenji in Meiji Japan," Japan Forum 9.1 (1997): 1-15 and is reprinted
here with permission of the British Association for Japanese Studies and Routledge.
Material for chapter six first appeared in an article "Textual Malfeasance in Yosano
Akiko's Shiny aku Genji monogatari" Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 58.1 (June
1998): 201-19 and is reprinted here with permission of the editors.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rowley, Gillian Gaye, 1960-

Yosano Akiko and the Tale of Genji / G.G. Rowley.
p. cm. — (Michigan monograph series in Japanese studies no. 28)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-939512-98-X (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Yosano, Akiko, 1878-1942—Criticism and interpretation.
2. Murasaki Shikibu, b. 978? Genji monogatari. I. Murasaki Shikibu,
b. 978? Genji monogatari. II. Title. III. Series.
PL819.O8R68 2000
895.6f144—dc21
99-089978
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The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons

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To my parents
Kenneth and Nancy Rowley

"Akiko at about Age Sixty." Courtesy of Chikuma Shobo Publishing Co., Ltd.
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
The Tale ofGenji in the Life and Work of Yosano Akiko
Chapter One 17
The Tale ofGenji: Women's Romance, Men's Classic
Chapter Two 34
Secret Joy: Akiko's Childhood Reading
Chapter Three 52
The Tale ofGenji in the Meiji Period
Chapter Four 72
A Murasaki Shikibu for the Meiji Period
Chapter Five 90
The Shin'yaku Genji monogatari
Chapter Six 112
A Genji of Her Own: Textual Malfeasance in
Shin 'yaku Genji monogatari
Chapter Seven 132
Akiko's Last Genjis
Chapter Eight 157
The Tale ofGenji: "My Whole Life's Work"
Epilogue 181
viii CONTENTS
Appendix A 183
Akiko's Publications on the Japanese Classics
Appendix B 186
Selected Translations
List of Characters 193
Bibliography 202
Index 214
Acknowledgments
I have been helped by many friends and scholars, in some cases

for many years, in the preparation of this study. It is a pleasure, at
long last, to be able to thank them. My first debt is to the Cambridge
Commonwealth Trust for the scholarship that enabled me to spend
three years studying at Newnham College and in the Faculty of Ori-
ental Studies of the University of Cambridge. A Japan Foundation
Dissertation Fellowship made possible a period of research in Tokyo.
At that time Professor Kumasaka Atsuko, who had supervised my work
on Akiko when I was an M.A. student at Japan Women's University,
welcomed me back to her seminar. Professor Itsumi Kumi graciously
invited me to attend her classes on Akiko at Aoyama Gakuin Women's
Junior College. Professor Itsumi's dauntless energy, of a sort that in-
vites comparison with Akiko's own, continues to be both infectious
and inspiring. My debt to her many publications on Akiko will be
evident in the footnotes to this study. Professor Ichikawa Chihiro has
for many years been an unstinting source of learned guidance, fruit-
ful discussion, and practical assistance. Without her generous gift of
textually reliable editions of Akiko's Shin'yaku Genji monogatari and
Shin-shinyaku Genji monogatari, chapters five, six, and eight could not
have been written. Professor Ichikawa also introduced me to the group
of scholars who used to meet monthly to read The Tale of Genji under
the guidance of the late Professor Teramoto Naohiko. It was a privi-
lege to attend these meetings, and I am greatly indebted to Professor
Teramoto for his patient advice on a number of difficult points.
I am grateful to Professor Edwin A. Cranston of the Depart-
ment of East Asian Languages and Civilizations at Harvard Univer-
sity, who has encouraged me from the outset of my study of Akiko. I
x ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
would also like to thank Professor Ken K. Ito of the University of

Michigan and Professor Janet A. Walker of Rutgers University for
their support at different stages of this project. In Cambridge, the
learning and counsel of Dr. Carmen Blacker, Professor Richard
Bowring, Dr. Peter Kornicki, Mr. Koyama Noboru, Dr. Stephen
Large, and Dr. Mark Morris were invaluable. I am also grateful to Dr.
James McMullen and Dr. Brian Powell of the University of Oxford
for their careful reading of an earlier version of this study.
For warm hospitality during many visits over the years I am
indebted to Professor W. J. Boot and the other members of the Cen-
tre for Japanese and Korean Studies at the University of Leiden. Pro-
fessor Adriana Boscaro of the Department of East Asian Studies,
University Ca' Foscari, Venice, looked after me during three months
of writing in the autumn of 1991, and I am grateful for her continued
encouragement. Friends Julia Borossa, Charlotte Klonk, Nicola
Liscutin, Gail Marshall, and Margaret Mehl have been unstinting in
their support and I thank them for their generosity. Thanks also to
Douglas Anthony, Janet Richards, Rosemary Smith, Mark Teeuwen,
and my other colleagues in the Japanese Studies Centre of the Uni-
versity of Wales, Cardiff, for enabling me to take a semester of study-
leave in 1995, and for their consideration during the final months of
writing. Charles Boyle gave me much needed help with Japanese word
processing technology, for which I am most grateful.
Mrs. Kawai Noriyo and the late Dr. Kawai Toshiro of Gifu
first looked after me in Japan with rare sympathy and forbearance.
This book is also for them. All the mistakes and infelicities of thought
and style are, of course, my own.
Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used for multivolume series:
MBZ Meiji bungaku zenshu. 100 vols. Chikuma Shob5, 1966-89.

NKBD Nihon koten bungaku daijiten. 6 vols. Iwanami Shoten, 1983-85.
NKBT Nihon koten bungaku taikei. 102 vols. Iwanami Shoten, 1957-68.
NKBZ Nihon koten bungaku zenshu. 51 vols. ShSgakukan, 1970-76.
TYAZ Teihon Yosano Akiko zenshu. 20 vols. Kodansha, 1979-81.
References in the text:
The text of The Tale ofGenji cited is the six-volume Genji monogatari,
edited by Abe Akio, Akiyama Ken, and Imai Gen'e, vols. 12-17 of
Nihon koten bungaku zenshu (NKBZ), published by Shogakukan, 1970-
76. Each quotation is identified by volume and page number, followed
by the corresponding page number of the English translation by Ed-
ward G. Seidensticker, The Tale ofGenji, 2 vols. (New York: Alfred A.
Knopf, 1976). They are given in the following form: (4:345; S 662).
Unless otherwise identified, however, all translations are my own.
References to the collected works of Yosano Akiko are to Teihon Yosano

Akiko zenshu (TYAZ), ed. Kimata Osamu, 20 vols. (KSdansha, 1979—
81). They are given by volume and page number in the following form:
(1:299).
Unless otherwise noted, the place of publication of Japanese works is

Tokyo.
Introduction: The Tale ofGenji in the
Life and Work of Yosano Akiko
Zrz/y# shigeki mugura gay ado no koto no ne ni

aki o soetaru suzumushi no koe. (1:299)
To strains of the koto from a house amid dew-drenched vines
the cry of the bell cricket adds its autumnal plaint.
Genji oba hitori to narite nochi ni kaku

Shijo toshi wakaku ware wa shikarazu. (7:156)
Writing Genji alone, left behind
Murasaki was young; I am not.
Some people are one-book people; their lives and their work
are dominated, usually with conscious complicity, by a single book.
William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (1708-78), seems to have found a
"politician's vade-mecum" in Spenser's Faerie Queene.1 Umberto Eco,
despite the vast range of reference apparent in all that he writes, in-
sists that the guiding star of it all is Gerard de Nerval's Sylvie (1853).2
1. Geoffrey Shepherd, introduction to An Apology for Poetry•, by Sir Philip Sidney (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1973), 1.
2. Remarks in the seminar following his 1990 Tanner lectures, Robinson College, University
of Cambridge, 9 March 1990. The point is not so firmly stressed in the printed version of
Eco's remarks, Interpretation and Overinterpretation, ed. Stefan Collini (Cambridge: Cam-
bridge University Press, 1992), 147-48. In his 1993 Charles Eliot Norton lectures, how-
ever, Eco returns to the subject:
I read [Sylvie] at the age of twenty and still keep rereading it. . . . By now I
know every comma and every secret mechanism of that novella.... Every time
I pick up Sylvie . . . I fall in love with it again, as if I were reading it for the first
time.
Six Walks in the Fictional Woods (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1994), 11-12.
Gerard de Nerval was the pseudonym of the French writer Gerard Labrunie (1808-55).
2 INTRODUCTION
Kujo Tanemichi (1507-94), when asked by Satomura Joha (1527-1602)

what he was currently reading, what he regarded as the most valuable
reference for poets, and whom he would most welcome as a compan-
ion of his leisure hours, answered "Genji, Genji, Genji."3
Yosano Akiko (1878-1942), had she ever been asked a similar
set of questions, could with equal sincerity and accuracy simply have
repeated Tanemichi's reply. The poems cited above, from the begin-
ning and the end of Akiko's literary life, bracket the career of this
author, another one-book person. Her book, too, was The Tale of Genji.
The first poem is Akiko's earliest known published poem.
When it appeared in the September 1895 issue of the literary journal
Bungei kurabu, she was seventeen years old. One commentator sug-
gests that the poem has much in common with a poem from the Mura-
saki Shikibu shu* a "reply to someone who wished to borrow a koto
for a while, asking if [she] might come and learn from me":
Tsuyu shigeki yomogi ga naka no mushi no ne o

oboroke nite ya hito no tazunemu.5
Would you seek out the sound, so ordinary,
of the insect amid dew-drenched wormwood?
3. The anecdote is recorded by Matsunaga Teitoku (1571-1653), a disciple of Tanemichi, in

his Taionki:
Always after meals he would be leaning over his desk, morning and night read-
ing Genji. Time and again he said, "There is nothing so fascinating as this
monogatari. Even after more than sixty years I do not tire of it. Reading it, I
feel as if I were living in the Engi (901-23) era." Once [Satomura] Joha Hokkyo
called upon him and said, "What are you reading?"
"Genji."
Then he asked, "What is the most valuable reference for poets?"
"Genji."
And then again, "Whom would you most welcome as a companion of your
leisure hours?"
"Genji."
Three times he gave the same answer.
Taionki, ed. Odaka Toshio, NKBT9SA^t.
4. Itsumi Kumi, "Hiroshi, Akiko no tegami kara mita Akiko Genji" Komabano, no. 33 (Tokyo-
to Kindai Bungaku Hakubutsukan, 1982): 3; and "Yosano Akiko no Genji monogatari
kogoyaku ni tsuite," Kokugakuin zasshi 94.1 (January 1993): 15.
5. Murasaki Shikibu shu, poem no. 3, in Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikibu nikki Murasaki
Shikibu shu, ed. Yamamoto Ritatsu, Shincho Nihon koten shiisei (Shinchosha, 1980), 200.
THE LIFE AND WORK OF YOSANO AKIKO 3
Striking though the resemblances are, however, it seems more likely

that Akiko's poem is an allusive variation on a poem that appears in
the 'Yokobue' (The Flute) chapter of Genji. One autumn evening,
Yugiri visits Kashiwagi's widow, the Second Princess. He is received
by the Princess's mother Miyasudokoro. Yugiri plays on the koto a
strain that he had often heard Kashiwagi play, and he suggests that
the Princess play something too, but her response is reluctant and
brief. As he prepares to leave, Miyasudokoro presents him with a flute
that had been a favorite of Kashiwagi and he sounds a few notes on
the instrument. Miyasudokoro replies with the following poem:
Tsuyu shigeki mugura no yado ni inishie no

aki ni kawaranu mushi no koe kana. (4:345; S 662)
In the house covered in dew-drenched vines
the cry of insects is unchanged from autumns past.
The "house covered in dew-drenched vines;" the season, autumn; the

cry of the insects—in all these respects Akiko's poem is identical to
the poem from 'Yokobue.' Whereas Miyasudokoro's poem is a spe-
cific response to the notes Yugiri plays on Kashiwagi's flute, Akiko's
poem epitomizes the events of that evening and adds a conceit of her
own, that the cry of the bell cricket/the notes sounded on the flute
"add" autumn, which is to say a feeling of sadness and loss. No "Suma-
gaeri" reader Akiko: even in her late teens she was sufficiently well
versed in the classics to enrich this first of her published poems with
a sophisticated allusion to a scene from the latter half of Genji.6
The second of the two poems was written forty years later in
1935 when Akiko was fifty-seven years old. The meaning is fairly
straightforward: "Shijo," that is, Murasaki Shikibu, "was young when
she wrote Genji, but I am not." In describing Murasaki as a widow
like herself, Akiko draws upon one of the legends, or theories, con-
cerning the composition of The Tale of Genji, according to which
Murasaki began work on Genji after losing her husband Fujiwara no
Nobutaka (born 947?) in 1001. More recently, Goto Shoko has esti-
mated that Murasaki was just over thirty years old, which is to say
6. A Suma-gaeri reader gets as far as 'Suma,' the twelfth chapter of Genji, and then gives up.
4 INTRODUCTION
that by the standards of life expectancy of her day, she was entering
middle age when she became a widow.7 In AkikoJs own estimation,
gleaned from her 1928 essay "Murasaki Shikibu shinko" (A New Study
of Murasaki Shikibu, 12:478-508), Murasaki would have been no more
than twenty-three or -four in 1001. In that same essay, Akiko writes
that she believes Murasaki may have begun writing Genji even before
her marriage to Nobutaka. For the purposes of the 1935 poem, how-
ever, she accepts the notion that Murasaki began writing Genji to con-
sole herself following the loss of her husband.
In this poem the speaker explicitly compares herself to Mura-
saki. The subject of kaku is deliberately left vague, allowing the reader
to infer that both Shijo and ware are "writing" Genji. The identity of
the act is total; the only difference is that Shijo is young, whereas ware
is not. No longer young, in her own estimation at least, Akiko had
begun her final attempt at a modern Japanese translation of The Tale
of Genji in 1932. Devastated by the death of her husband in 1935, she
thought of giving up the project, but, never one to shirk work, she
persevered, and the final volume was published in 1939, less than a
year before she had the cerebral hemorrhage that left her an invalid
for the rest of her life. In this poem, Akiko reveals how thoroughly
she had come to see her work on Genji as a major and vital part of her
life.
These two poems, one from the very beginning and the other
written towards the end of Akiko's career, are, I think, emblematic of
the life that was lived in between. My reason for making this point is
that she is so often described in other terms. To most readers, as well
as to many scholars, Akiko is known principally as a "poetess of pas-
sion" (jonetsu nojoryil kajin), a "new woman" (atarashii onna),8 or even
7. Goto Shoko, "Murasaki Shikibu jiten," in Genji monogatarijiten, ed. Akiyama Ken, Bessatsu
kokubungaku series, no. 36 (Gakutosha, 1989), 304-5.
8. A recent example of this view is Nishio Yoshihito, Akiko, Tomiko, Meiji no atarashii onna—ai
to bungaku— (Yuhikaku, 1986). On the origin of the epithet "new woman" and for an
account of Akiko's participation in contemporary discussions concerning women's roles,
see Laurel Rasplica Rodd, "Yosano Akiko and the Taisho Debate over the 'New Woman',"
in Recreating Japanese Women, 1600-1945, ed. Gail Lee Bernstein (Berkeley and Los An-
geles: University of California Press, 1991), 175-98.
a suffragette.9 In June of 1901, she ran away from her home in Sakai
and traveled alone to Tokyo to be with her mentor, later her husband,
Yosano Hiroshi (1873-1935), then known by his pen name Tekkan.
Later that year she published what has remained her most celebrated
work, a collection of 399 tanka entitled Midaregami (Tangled Hair). It
might almost be said that this collection dogged her for the rest of
her life and continues, long after her death, to overwhelm her reputa-
tion. That it does contain poems of passion can hardly be denied:
Kurokami no chisuji no kami no midaregami

katsu omoimidare omoimidaruru. (1:43)
A thousand strands of black hair, tangled hair
like them my thoughts, tangling and entangled.
Ito semete moyuru ga mama ni moeshimeyo

kaku zo oboyuru kureteyuku haru. (1:53)
Pressed relentlessly, this burning shall burn me up!
Such at least is how I feel as spring approaches its end.
Midaregokochi madoigokochi zo shikiri naru

yurifumu kami ni chichi diaezu. (1:8)
Tangled desires,
Blind, errant desires
Ever upon me:
From the god who tramples lilies
I cannot cover my breasts.10
As even this meager sampling suggests, some of the Midaregami

poems are vivid, sensitive, and evocative, while others, such as "the
god who tramples lilies," are heavy-handed and suffer from an excess
of (no doubt sincerely felt) passion. In later years Akiko was deeply
9. For the first All Japan Women's Suffrage Conference, held 27 April 1930, Akiko composed
the "Women's Suffrage Song" (Fusen no uta) that is apparently still sung today. See Ichikawa
Fusae, "Yosano Akiko-shi no omoide," Teihon Yosano Akiko zenshugeppo, no. 8 (July 1980):
3-6; and Yamamoto Chie, Yama no ugoku hi kitaru—hydden Yosano Akiko (Otsuki Shoten,
1986), especially 211-13, for an account of Akiko's involvement with the women's suf-
frage movement in Japan.
10. Translation by Edwin A. Cranston, "Young Akiko: The Literary Debut of Yosano Akiko,"
Literature East and West 18.1 (March 1974): 39.
6 INTRODUCTION
embarrassed by her early poetry. As early as 1915 she admitted that

Midaregami contained "many juvenile poems and I cannot but blush"
(13:37). A selection of 2,963 of her poems that she made in 1938 con-
tains only fourteen from that collection.11 Nonetheless, Midaregami
remains easily the most famous of the thirty-some collections of po-
etry that were published during her lifetime.12 Whatever other quali-
ties the Midaregami poems might possess, it was their passion that
was to establish and distinguish Akiko's reputation for most of her
readers most of the time.
No less so for scholars of modern Japanese literature is Akiko
the great "poetess of passion." Exegesis of Akiko's tanka, which at this
point in history amounts to little more than exegesis of Midaregami,
is heavily biographical. Masatomi Oyo's Akiko no koi to shi:jissetsu Mida-
regami, which might be translated as Akiko: her passion and her po-
etry—the real story behind Midaregami, is a type-title. 13 T h e view of
literature that informs such works is that a single, correct reading of a
poem can be found if only one has access to sufficient biographical
detail and preferably some romantic escapade. Hence, for example,
debate raged for years as to whether or not Akiko managed to slip
away from her family for an illicit few days alone with Tekkan in a
ryokan on the outskirts of Kyoto before they were married. Various
interpretations of Akiko's early poems, such as the following, were
cited as "evidence" for one view or the other:
11. Yosano Akiko, Yosano Akiko kashu (1938; rev. ed., Iwanami Shoten, 1985). See Akiko's
"Atogaki" (361-62) to this selection for more disparaging remarks about her own early
poetry.
12. A comprehensive list can be found in Irie Haruyuki, Yosano Akiko no bungaku (Ofusha,
1983), 136-90.
13. Masatomi Oyo, Akiko no koi to shiijissetsu Midaregami (San'6 Shobo, 1967). Masatomi Oyo
(1881-1967) was connected to the Yosano menage by his marriage to Hayashi Takino
(1878-1966), who had beenTekkan's common-law wife for a brief period. In 1889 Tekkan
took a job teaching Japanese language and classical Chinese at a school for girls run by
his brother in Tokuyama. There he formed a relationship with Asada Sada, who bore him
a daughter in August 1899. The child died a month after birth and the two separated
soon after. Two months later, in October 1899, Tekkan left Tokuyama for Tokyo with
Takino, who had been a student of his at the school. Takino had a son by Tekkan in
September 1900 but early in June 1901 she took the boy with her and returned to her
parents' home. Akiko arrived at Tekkan's house in Tokyo shortly thereafter, but their
marriage was not formally registered until 13 January 1902.
THE LIFE AND WORK OF YOSANO AKIKO
Harusamu no futahi o kyo no yamagomori

ume ni fusawanu waga kami no midare. (1:56)
In the cold of spring
Two days we spent secluded
In the hills of Kyo
Plum blossoms were poorly matched
With the wild tangle of my hair.14
The debate was brought to an end only with the publication of a num-
ber of Akiko's letters from the period in question, demonstrating in
convincing detail that the meeting had indeed taken place.15
Questions of this sort—whether or not she had been trysting
premaritally and "adulterously" with Tekkan; whether her relation-
ship with Arishima Takeo (1878-1923)—subject of a book16 and the
1988 film Hana no ran (Flowers in Riot)—was more than platonic or
not; who the "y o u n g preacher" of the following poem might really
have been:
Yawahada no atsuki chishio nifure mo mide

sabishikarazu ya michi o toku kimi. (1:6)
Beneath my soft skin
Pulses the hot tide of blood
You have never tried
To touch; aren't you lonely
O young preacher of the Way?17
—all of these are questions of but secondary importance. Yet at times

it seems that to practitioners of this biographical mode of criticism,
the sole purpose of analyzing Akiko's poems is to document every
feeling, passion, and event in her love life. Evidence other than bio-
graphical, one suspects, is not only overlooked, but unwelcome.
14. Cranston, "Young Akiko," 35.
15. See Shinma Shin'ichi, Yosano Akiko (Ofusha, 1981), 39; and Itsumi Kumi, "Midaregami—
Awatayama teisetsu to Saga no hitoyo—," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 59.2 (Febru-
ary 1994): 49-52. The full text of the letters appears in Sato Ryoyu, Midaregami ko (1956;
reprint, Kindaisakka kenkyusosho, vol. 104, Nihon Tosho Sentaa, 1990), 245-80. As Itsumi
notes, excerpts had been published earlier, in 1948 and 1949.
16. Nagahata Michiko, Yume no kakehashi—Akiko to Takeo yujo (Shinhyoron, 1985). See also
Itsumi Kumi's review of the book, "Jissho no teiji o," Tanka shinbun, 10 August 1985, 6.
17. Cranston, "Young Akiko," 25.
8 INTRODUCTION
The most recent edition of Akiko's complete works fills twenty

volumes and includes free-verse poetry (shintaishi), children's stories,
a novel, her experiments in drama and her essays, as well as seven
volumes of tanka amounting to some 25,000 poems. Of this vast
oeuvre, only four collections of her poetry have received more than
cursory attention;18 overwhelmingly, it is Midaregami to which schol-
ars have returned again and again.19 The great bulk of writing about
Akiko, both scholarly and popular, still concerns itself with the de-
tails of her love affair with Tekkan; the "real story" behind the Midare-
gami collection; and a few years of the Yosanos strained life together,
usually up until their trip to Europe in 1912.20 An otherwise serious
bibliography of Akiko studies even lists an article entitled "You too
18. They are: Midaregami; her second collection, Koogi (Little Fan, 1904): Itsumi Kumi, Koogi
zenshaku (Yagi Shoten, 1988); her fifth, Maihime (Dancing Girl, 1906): Sato Kazuo, Yosano
Akiko Maihime hyoshaku (Meiji Shoin, 1978); Itsumi Kumi, Maihime zenshaku (Tanka
Shinbunsha, 1999); and her sixth, Yume no hana (Dream Flowers, 1906): Sato Kazuo,
Yume no hana kansho (Sobunsha, 1988); Itsumi Kumi, Yume no hana zenshaku (Yagi Shoten,
1994).
19. The major postwar monographs are: Sato, Midaregami ko; Satake Kazuhiko, Zenshaku
Midaregami kenkyu (Yuhodo, 1957); Sato Haruo, Midaregami o yomu (Kodansha, 1959);
Itsumi Kumi, Midaregami zenshaku (Ofusha, 1978; rev. ed. 1986); Itsumi Kumi, Shin
Midaregami zenshaku (Yagi Shoten, 1996).
The most detailed scholarly account of Midaregami in a Western language is
Katharina May's Die Erneuerung der Tanka-Poesie in der Meiji-Zeit und die Lyrik Yosano
Akikos (Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, 1975), 110-245. See also Henri Kerlen, De talloze
treden naar mijn hart (Soest: Kairos, 1987); and Claire Dodane, Yosano Akiko: De sespre-
miers po ernes a ses essais sur la condition feminine (Paris: Institut National Des Langues et
Civilisations Orientales, 1995), 102-200. In English, Cranston's "Young Akiko," cited
above, is an excellent introduction to Akiko's early life and work. See also his "Carmine-
Purple: A Translation of 'Enji-Murasaki,' the First Ninety-Eight Poems of Yosano Akiko's
Midaregami" Journal of the Association of Teachers ofJapanese ISA (April 1991): 91-111.
Other English translations include Sanford Goldstein and Seishi Shinoda, Tangled Hair:
Selected Tanka from Midaregami (1971; reprint, Rutland, Vt. & Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle,
1987), and Hiroaki Sato and Burton Watson, eds. and trans., From the Country of Eight
Islands: An Anthology of Japanese Poetry (Garden City, N.Y.: Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1981),
431-35. More recently, Dennis Maloney and Hide Oshiro have published Tangled Hair:
Love Poems of Yosano Akiko (Fredonia, N.Y.: White Pine Press, 1987); the authors take the
Midaregami poems to be "a record of [Tekkan and Akiko's] love affair" (introduction, no
page number) and intersperse their translations with a number of erotic drawings de-
rived from Edo period shunga. See also Sam Hamill and Keiko Matsui Gibson, trans.,
River of Stars: Selected Poems of Yosano Akiko (Boston and London: Shambala, 1996), 3 -
101.
20. This is the extent of, for example, Sato Haruo's acclaimed biographical novel Akiko mandara
(Kodansha, 1954), and, in English, Phyllis Hyland Larson, "Yosano Akiko: The Early
Years" (Ph.D. diss., University of Minnesota, 1985).
could be Yosano Akiko—why not give burning passion a try?"21 Not

until 1986 was a book published about Akiko that was based on a read-
ing of her essays and journalism.22 And among the popular accounts
of Akiko's life published since then has been the three-volume comic
book Koi murasaki (Deep Purple Passion).23 Most recently, best-sell-
ing tanka poet Tawara Machi (1962- ) has published a modern Japa-
nese "translation" of Midaregarni.24 A companion volume, consisting
of fifty-five of these poems accompanied by an equivalent number of
photographs of nude women, takes as its title Tawara's extraordinar-
ily free rendition of the Midaregami poem cited above: Moeru hada o
daku koto mo nakujinsei o kataritsuzukete sabishikunai no (Never even
making love to skin burning with desire, just talking on and on about
life, aren't you missing something?)25
Another closely related view of Akiko's early poetry, and of
Midaregami in particular, is that it represents a radical departure from
tradition and is the work of a literary revolutionary. This is a view
that has appealed particularly to Western commentators. Atsumi Ikuko
and Graeme Wilson, for example, maintain that both the "diction
and vocabulary [of the Midaregami poems] were revolutionary"26
Janine Beichman writes, "[a]s the young Akiko had broken the taboo
on speaking about passionate love, so now the middle-aged Akiko
broke the taboo on speaking in public" of the act of birth."27 It is of
21. Irie Haruyuki, "Saikin no Akiko kenkyu ni tsuite," Tanka kenkyu geppo, no. 20 (November
1981): 6. The article in question is "Anata mo Yosano Akiko n i . . . 'moeru yd na koi' shite
minai?" and is to be found in Yangu redei 15.5 (8 March 1977): 98-100.
22. Yamamoto, Yama no ugoku hi kitaru. See also Ogi Motoko, "Yosano Akiko to Taisho jaanari-
zumu," in Kindai Nihon ni okeru jaanarizumu no seijiteki kino, ed. Tanaka Hiroshi
(Ochanomizu Shobo, 1982), 155-72; and Ichikawa Chihiro, "Yokohama boeki shinpo to
Akiko," Namiki no sato, no. 42 (June 1995): 35-41.
23. Kurahashi Yoko and Takahashi Chizuru, Koi murasaki—Yosano Akiko monogatari, 3 vols.
(Kodansha, 1991). The strip originally appeared in mimi magazine and was later pub-
lished in novel form: Kurahashi Yoko, Koi murasaki: shosetsu Yosano Akiko (Kodansha,
1992).
24. Tawara Machi, Chokoreeto-go yaku Midaregami, 2 vols. (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1998).
25. Tawara Machi and Nomura Sakiko, Moeru hada o daku koto mo nakujinsei o kataritsuzukete
sabishikunai no (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1998).
26. Atsumi Ikuko and Graeme Wilson, "The Poetry of Yosano Akiko," Japan Quarterly 21.2
(April-June 1974): 182.
27. Janine Beichman, "Yosano Akiko: Return to the Female," Japan Quarterly 36.2 (April-June
1990): 224.
10 INTRODUCTION
course true that the subject matter of her compositions and some of
the vocabulary with which her concerns are articulated both shocked
and excited the poetry reading public of the time. A review oi Midare-
gami in the September 1901 issue of Kokoro no hana thundered:
Morality is the foundation of a society; if there is a decline in

morality, on what basis can the state be preserved, even briefly? In
the first place, this book depicts many instances of obscene be-
havior and shameful conduct; moreover it is damaging to human
decency. I have no hesitation in adjudging it a poison to public
morality.28
Today, nearly a hundred years after Midaregami was first published,

modern admirers still romanticize what they see as Akiko's disregard
for the poetic and moral conventions of the time. To wit, this brief
excerpt from Tanikawa Shuntaro's paean to Akiko:
Karada no okufukaku kakusareta sei no himitsu o

shichigocho ga tokihanatsu
koi yue ni anata wa furui isho o nugisuteta
mabushisugiru sono rashin wa
toki o hedatete ima mo kagayaite iru?9
The secrets of life hidden deep within your body
were set free by seven-five rhythms;
for love you threw off old raiment;
too blindingly bright, that naked body
shines still, through time now long past.
Of course there is much that is new in Akiko's poetry. The

Midaregami poems could not be slipped unnoticed into a court an-
thology. Yet Akiko's most memorable images of passion—those of
tangled hair, midaregami, and of besetting love, ito semete—have a his-
tory that is routinely overlooked, and this oversight continues to dis-
tort our view of Akiko and her work. The following poem of Izumi
Shikibu (born 977?) is a famous example of similarly tangled hair:
28. "Kashu somakuri," review of Midaregami, in Kokoro no hana 4.9 (September 1901): 77.
29. Tanikawa Shuntaro, untitled poem in Meiji no shiika (Gakken, 1981), 12.
Kurokami no midare mo shirazu uchifuseba

mazu kakiyarishi hito zo koishiki?®
I fling myself down,
Heedless of the wild disorder
Of my long black hair,
And soon I'm yearning once again
For him who used to stroke it smooth.31
And Ono no Komachi (fl. ca. 850) employed the ito semete image to
stunning effect in one of her best-known poems:
Ito semete koishiki toki wa ubatama no

yoru no koromo o kaeshite zo kiru?1
When love presses me,
Relentless in the glistening night,
I take off my robe,
Then lie down to sleep again,
Wearing it inside out.33
However nakedly new Akiko's poems may be, they are at the
same time unmistakable allusive variations on these much older mod-
els. My point is not merely that her allusions are sometimes missed,
but that there are vital forces at work in Akiko's poetry that have been
ignored in the desire to see her tanka, and her life, as new, radical,
taboo-breaking. As with the biographical interpretations, the impor-
tant is passed over in favor of the insignificant; for as Helen Vendler
has written, "[t]aboo-breaking is not in itself a poetic task. No poem
is improved by having a shattered taboo in it. . . . The poet does well
by perception in vesting it in language, or does not. The poem finds a
language for its experience, or it does not."34
30. Izumi Shikibu shu, poem no. 27, in Izumi Shikibu, Izumi Shikibu nikki Izumi Shikibu shu,
ed. Nomura Seiichi, Shincho Nihon koten shusei (Shinchosha, 1981), 98.
31. Translation by Edwin A. Cranston, "The Dark Path: Images of Longing in Japanese Love
Poetry," Harvard Journal ofAsiatic Studies 35 (1975): 81.
32. Poem no. 554, in Kokinwakashu, ed. Ozawa Masao, NKBZ 7:236.
33. Cranston, "The Dark Path," 75.
34. Helen Vendler, The Music of What Happens (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1988),
301.
12 INTRODUCTION
This characterization of Akiko as a totem figure of modernity,

whether as "poetess of passion" or trailblazer of the New, distorts our
view of her life and work in two major ways. In the first place, as is
clear even from the few poems already cited, it fosters the misreading
of that portion of her oeuvre for which she is best known, her poetry.
And second, it diverts attention from an equally important part of her
career, that part devoted not to poetry but to work on the Japanese
classics, in particular The Tale ofGenji.
Fortunately, the first of these biases is slowly but steadily be-
ing set straight through the painstaking work of Professor Ichikawa
Chihiro. Ichikawa, whose training as a Genji scholar uniquely quali-
fies her for the task, has over the past fifteen years methodically scru-
tinized the vast corpus of Akiko's poetry, identifying her sources in
Genji and revising the interpretations of commentators who were
unaware of these sources.35 One example of Ichikawa's approach must
suffice here. In her first article, Ichikawa argues that a number of
poems in the Midaregami collection have an interesting parallel in the
portrait of Ukifune in the Uji chapters of Genji. Ichikawa recalls that
the beauty of Ukifune's hair is stressed at many points during the ac-
count of her life in Genji: when she is found by the Uji river she is
described as someone with "hair that was long and lustrous" (6:270; S
1044). Some months later, one of the nuns who has taken her in combs
out her hair. "Although it had been tied back so unbecomingly and
left that way, it was not so very tangled, and when combed right to
35. See the following articles by Ichikawa Chihiro: "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari—
Midaregami to 'Ukifune' o megutte—," Heiancho bungaku kenkyu, n.s., 1.2 (October 1983):
100-12, translated by G. G. Rowley as "Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji: Ukifune and
Midaregami" Journal of the Association ofTeachers ofJapanese 28.,2 (November 1994): 2 7 -
43; "Hirano Banri Akiko shukasen ni okeru 'Genjifuri' rokujunana shu ni tsuite," in Genji
monogatari to sonojuyo, ed. Teramoto Naohiko (Yubun Shoin, 1984), 487-506; "Akiko no
uta ni miru Genji monogatari" Heian bungaku kenkyu, no. 77 (May 1987): 249-61; "Akiko-
ka ni okeru Genji monogatari toei—yogo o chushin ni—," Heiancho bungaku kenkyu, n.s.,
1.3 (October 1987): 130-38; "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari—chimei o megutte—,"
Namiki no sato, no. 35 (December 1991): 80-87; "Yosano Akiko to koten—Akiko no koten
sahtai—," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 59.2 (February 1994): 136-40; "Yosano Akiko
no Genji monogatari-ei—kanmei no yomikomareta uta ni tsuite—," Namiki no sato, no. 40
(June 1994): 8-16; "Yosano Akiko no kotenteki eiho ni tsuite," Namiki no sato, no. 46
(June 1997): 1-10. All of these essays are now collected in Ichikawa Chihiro, Yosano Akiko
to Genji monogatari (Ryugasaki: Kokuken Shuppan, 1998), 3-194.
the ends, it was lustrous and bright" (6:287; S 1051), and so on. As its
very title suggests, Midaregami contains many poems about women's
hair. But the classical antecedents of Akiko's metaphors of hair have
gone unnoticed. With Ukifune's tale in mind, Ichikawa suggests that
a different interpretation of the following Midaregami poem—one
which has consistently been seen as a display of youthful egotism—is
possible:
Sono ko hatachi kushi ni nagaruru kurokami no

ogori no haru no utsukushiki kana. (1:4)
Twenty that girl; the black hair flowing through her comb
the beauty of her proud and glorious spring.
Ichikawa cites Kimata Osamu's comment: "Although one might as-

sume that sono ko here refers to someone else, [Akiko] in fact writes of
herself."36 Haga Toru takes a similar view: "Referring to herself, sono
ko hatachi . . . proudly applauds the gorgeousness of her own youth,
head held so high as to be arrogant. . . ."37 For Ichikawa the Genji
scholar, however, sono ko clearly indicates "the existence in Akiko's
mind of an object other than herself:
If we interpret Akiko's sono ko hatachi broadly and refrain from

insisting on a strictly biographical reading, Ukifune might well be
included in the field of reference of this expression. The poem
then becomes one which provides a gentle lesson in life, a rich,
resonant, delightful poem in praise of youth. "That girl is twenty.
The black hair loosened by her comb is thick and shines with
youthful beauty. This very moment is life's glorious spring!"38
It will be apparent from the titles of the publications in which

Ichikawa's articles have appeared that her work is received with re-
spect in the world of Genji scholarship. Her discoveries have, how-
ever, been greeted with resounding silence by scholars of modern lit-
erature in Japan. The part played by classical literature, especially
36. Kimata Osamu, Kindai tanka no kansho to hihyo (Meiji Shoin, 1964), 147.
37. Haga Tom, Midaregami no keifu (Bijutsu K5ronsha, 1981), 20.
38. Ichikawa Chihiro, "Midaregami to 'Ukifune,'" 109.
14 INTRODUCTION
The Tale of Genji, in the formation of Akiko's poetic voice is acknowl-

edged at best with remarks such as "[her] poetic style, especially in
her early works from Midaregami to Yume no hana is, on the whole,
vaguely reminiscent of the tone of the Shinkokinshu"1*9 Although much
remains to be done, Ichikawa has observed that Genji was an ever-
present part of Akiko's mental landscape, that an awareness of the
depth and magnitude of Akiko's attachment to Genji demands rein-
terpretation of a considerable portion of her massive poetic output.40
The aim of this book is not so much to contribute to Ichikawa's
project as to elaborate the perspective that underlies it, to bring into
clearer view those aspects of Akiko's life and work that still remain in
the shadow of her reputation as a poet. I shall attempt to delineate
the full range of her involvement with Genji, and I shall argue that
this involvement was the bedrock upon which her literary career was
built. As Akiko herself recalls, "From the age of eleven or twelve,
Murasaki Shikibu has been my teacher, and I feel that I have had The
Tale of Genji from [her] very mouth" (19:258). By 1909, in her thirty-
first year, she already knew that translating and explicating Genji would
be her "whole life's work."41 Indeed, the very idea that a woman could
live by her writing was suggested to her, she says, by her reading of
the Heian classics (14:440).
One looks at a chronology of Akiko's life and sees a steady
increase in the amount of work she did on Genji and other classics.
There are the translations, of course, most of them multivolume works
in their original form; as well as several volumes of texts in the Nihon
koten zenshu series that she edited; and her introductions to some of
these volumes; and enough learned articles on Murasaki Shikibu and
other Heian authors to form a separate volume; and a commentary on
Genji that went up in flames.42 It is of course impossible to calculate
the amount of time these activities, presented with such misleading
concision in the chronologies, must have consumed; nonetheless, one
39. Shinma, Yosano Akiko, 130.

40. Ichikawa Chihiro, "Midaregami to 'Ukifune,'" 105, 112.
41. Letter to Kobayashi Tenmin, 18 September 1909, in Ueda Ayako and Itsumi Kumi, eds.,
Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshu: Tenmin bunko zo (Yagi Shoten, 1983), 21.
42. A list of Akiko's publications on Genji and other works from the classical canon may be
found in Appendix A.
is tempted to conclude that in the latter half of her career, Akiko must
have devoted far more of her working hours to Genji and the classics
than to poetry. One looks in vain, however, in works of Akiko criti-
cism for anything like proportional representation of this shift. The
familiar poet is everywhere in evidence, jotting down the outpour-
ings of passion, while the scholar (and mother of eleven), bent over
her desk in projects of research, translation, and editing—the "core
of my work," as she herself once put it43—that consumed months and
years of her time, is hardly to be glimpsed. Thus it was that the more
I studied Akiko, the stronger became the sense of the astonishing speed
with which the lived texture of a person's life—even the life of some-
one deemed a major literary figure—can disappear from the record;
and the more important it seemed to retrieve now what remains to be
retrieved, before a cornerstone of her life is reduced to a few items in
her bibliography, ultimately to be buried under a myth.
It must be admitted, of course, that the fault is not entirely
that of her biographers and admirers. Akiko herself is reticent about
her work with Genji and other classics. On the nature of poetry and
the craft of composition she has written volumes.44 Of her work on
Genji, she has virtually nothing to say—with the result that much of
the information that she might so easily have recorded died with her.
For this reason, much of the work that has gone into this study has
43. Yosano Akiko, "Shin'yaku Genji monogatari no nochi ni," in Shin'yaku Genji monogatari
(Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13), 4:2. The afterword is numbered separately from the text at
the end of the volume. A complete translation of the afterword may be found in Appendix B.
44. Yosano Akiko, Uta no tsukuriyo (How to Compose Poetry, 1915); Tanka sanbyakko (Lec-
tures on Three Hundred Tanka, 1916); Akiko utabanashi (Akiko's Talks on Poetry, 1919);
"Tanka no kansho to tsukurikata," (The Appreciation and Composition of Tanka, 1929—
30). See TYAZ 13 for all these works. In English, see Makoto Ueda, Modern Japanese Poets
and the Nature of Literature (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1983), 53-94; and two
articles by Laurel Rasplica Rodd, "'On Poetry,' by Yosano Akiko, with a Selection of Her
Poems," in New Leaves: Studies and Translations ofJapanese Literature in Honor of Edward
Seidensticker, ed. Aileen Gatten and Anthony Hood Chambers, Michigan Monograph
Series in Japanese Studies, no. 11 (Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The Univer-
sity of Michigan, 1993), 235-45; and "Yosano Akiko on Poetic Inspiration," in The Dis-
tant Isle: Studies and Translations of Japanese Literature in Honor of Robert H. Brower, ed.
Thomas Hare, Robert Borgen, and Sharalyn Orbaugh, Michigan Monograph Series in
Japanese Studies, no. 15 (Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of
Michigan, 1996), 409-25.
16 INTRODUCTION
consisted of scrutinizing her translations, studying her scholarship,

and searching the works of those who have written about her for snip-
pets of information or leads to other possible sources.
With what I have retrieved, I have attempted to situate Akiko's
formative childhood reading of Genji within a history of other read-
ers and responses; and in order that Akiko's work on Genji be seen as
something other than the automatic outpourings of a singular genius,
I have tried to sketch the web of relationships through which she was
connected to the literary milieu of her day. And finally, I have tried to
demonstrate the importance that The Tale of Genji held in Akiko's own
conception of herself and her work, throughout her entire working
lifetime.
The result, I hope, will be to demonstrate that The Tale of Genji
provided Akiko with her conception of herself as a writer and inspired
many of her most significant literary projects, and that facile descrip-
tions of Akiko as "poetess of passion" and "new woman" will no longer
suffice as assessments of her life and work.
Chapter One:
The Tale Of Genji:
Women's Romance, Men's Classic
Shunjosho ni he o kasanete kasataranu

makura way agate kuzurekeru kana. (1:127)'
Piled the he on The Pillow Book but it wasn't pile enough;
no sooner I lay down than my pillow collapsed!
Bi o mezuru onna ni shikazu Genji oba

otoko tsukurazu hoshi no kakazu. (5:562)
Genji: made not by man; written not by monk;
neither can equal a woman enamored of beauty.
The first of the two poems above evokes a woman's world of
monogatari reading reminiscent of that described centuries earlier by
Murasaki Shikibu in the 'Hotaru' (Fireflies) chapter of Genji: a young
woman spends the day alternately reading and dozing, her books spread
about the room, some of them piled up as a makeshift pillow (3:202; S
436-37). It is a world in which The Tale of Genji might be said to exist,
as it had for nearly a millennium, as a "romance."
In the second poem—in words and inflections that almost cari-
cature the heavily sinified style of monks and men—Akiko is con-
cerned to defend Genji from men who would claim it as their own
work.2 In so doing, she limns a realm in which Genji is something
1. The Shunshosho (c. 1674) is an edition of Sei Shonagon's Makura no soshi, with commentary,
compiled by Kitamura Kigin (1624-1705). The most widely circulated text of Makura no
soshi during the Edo period, its interpretations were considered "definitive" (NKBD 5:515).
An unvoiced second syllable (Shunshosho) is the preferred pronunciation today; furigana
in Akiko's Koigoromo (Love's Raiment, 1905; TYAZ 1:127) collection, where this poem
first appeared, indicate a voiced sound and so I have transcribed it as Shunjosho.
2. For example, the theories that Murasaki's patron Fujiwara no Michinaga (966-1027), or her
father Fujiwara no Tametoki (fl. c. 1000), wrote or assisted her in the writing of Genji.
See li Haruki, Genji monogatari no densetsu (Showa Shuppan, 1976), 69-90, for a careful
rebuttal of these views.
17
18 CHAPTER ONE
other than a "romance" for women, the realm of Genji as a "classic,"

or, as it would come to be seen in her day, Genji as koten?
An awareness of the history and vicissitudes of these two worlds
that Akiko briefly illuminates, the worlds of Genji as women's romance
and men's classic, is crucial to an understanding of the nature of the
role played by Genji in Akiko's own life and work. In order to grasp
the significance that Genji had for Akiko throughout her career, it is
important to note that the "Genji-world" that she inhabited in her
youth was by no means the same as that of her old age. The changes
this conceptual world underwent in her lifetime can be seen clearly
only against a background of earlier Genji-worlds, and the upheavals
of the Meiji era that made possible many of the changes in Akiko's
own Genji-world. These latter changes will be discussed in chapter
three. In this chapter I will attempt a brief sketch of earlier Genji-
worlds with the principal aim of suggesting something of the variety
of readers' interactions with Genji.
Monogatari seem always to have been regarded as reading for

women that was dangerous for women. In the preface to the Sanboe
(984), a collection of Buddhist tales compiled as a spiritual guide for
an imperial princess in her new life as a nun, Minamoto Tamenori
(941?—1011) describes monogatari reading as a dangerous distraction
from the imperative task of attaining the tranquillity of mind that
leads to enlightenment:
To pass the time of day at a game of go may be diverting, but how
fruitless to waste one's thoughts in striving and contention. The
koto, too, can be a pleasant companion of an evening; but one is
apt to grow over-fond of its music. And monogatari—these are but
for the amusement of women. They flourish in greater profusion
than the weeds upon the wooded graves of old, they are as numer-
ous as the grains of sand upon the rocky strand. To creatures that
lack the gift of speech they give words; to insentient objects they
impart feelings—even to the trees and grasses, mountains and riv-
ers, birds and beasts, fishes and insects. Their words flow forth
unchecked, as flotsam upon the sea; unlike reeds at the river's edge,
they have no root in truth. The Old Trickster (Iga no taome), The
3. As far as I can determine, it was not until the Meiji period that the word koten acquired the
meaning "classic" in the sense in which the word is used in English when referring to
works of acknowledged excellence in Greek and Latin literature. See chapter three for a
discussion of this point.
WOMEN'S ROMANCE, MEN'S CLASSIC 19
Tosa Minister (Tosa no otodo), The Fashionable Captain (Imameki no

chujo), The Lady of the Inner Chamber (Nakai nojiju)—these and all
of their ilk describe the affairs of men and women as if they were
possessed of all the beauty of flowers and butterflies. They are the
very root of sin. They amount to not so much as a drop of dew in
the Grove of Letters.4
By the latter half of the tenth century, the monogatari was

clearly identified as a women's plaything. Murasaki Shikibu seems not
to have taken issue with the designation of the genre as reading mat-
ter for women, but only with its evaluation. When Genji says that
monogatari "have set down and preserved happenings from the age of
the gods to our own" (Seidensticker's translation, 3:204; S 437), his
comparison is with historical writing. But monogatari are much more
than mere historical record. Genji continues:
"The Chronicles of Japan are really very one-sided. But these must
give you all the choice little details," he said with a smile. "At any
rate, they do not simply relate the events of some person's life
exactly as they happened. Rather I think that some things seen
and heard of people's lives, be they good or evil, so intrigue one
that they cannot be shut away in the heart but make one wish to
pass them on to generations to come—and so one sets out to tell
the story."5
And, as if in answer to Tamenori:

"Even in the Holy Law which the Buddha in his righteousness has
expounded to us, there are what we call the Partial Truths (hoben)
which, owing to the occasional contradictions they contain, the
unenlightened doubtless view with suspicion. In the Vaipulya sutras
these are numerous, but in the final analysis, they all share a single
aim. And this disparity between enlightenment and delusion, you
see, is of the same order as that between the good and evil in these
characters. Given their fair due, then, none of them are utterly
4. Translation after T. J. Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism of the Genji monogatari'. A

Study of the Background and Critical Content of his Genji monogatari Tama no Ogushi"
(Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1971), 27; amended with reference to Minamoto
Tamenori, Sanboe, ed. Mabuchi Kazuo and Koizumi Hiroshi, in Sanboe, Chukosen, ed.
Mabuchi Kazuo, Koizumi Hiroshi, and Konno Tom, vol. 31 of Shin Nihon koten bungaku
taikei, ed. Satake Akihiro et al. (Iwanami Shoten, 1997), 5-6. For a complete translation,
see Edward Kamens, The Three Jewels: A Study and Translation of Minamoto Tamenoris
Sanboe, Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, no. 2 (Ann Arbor: Center for
Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1988). None of the monogatari mentioned
in this passage are extant.
5. Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism," 172, slightly adapted.
20 CHAPTER ONE
bereft of benefit." So saying, he deftly described monogatari as in-

dispensable. (3:205; S 43 8)6
Although Fujiwara no Kinto (966-1041) revealed a certain fa-

miliarity with Genji when he asked the author whether "little Murasaki"
was in attendance,7 and although we also know that Michinaga made
off with sections of Genji from Murasaki's room while she was serving
his daughter, Empress Shoshi (988-1074),8 the only explicit contem-
porary response to Genji that we have came from the Ichijo emperor
(r. 986-1011):
His Majesty was listening to someone reading the Tale of Genji
aloud. "She must have read the Chronicles ofJapan!" he said. "She
seems very learned."9
Murasaki's account of IchijS's exclamation serves subtly to underscore

the claims she has made for the monogatari genre in the 'Hotaru' chap-
ter: this monogatari, my Genji, justifies them.
Despite Ichijo's amazed—or perhaps merely amused—recog-
nition of the author's learning, there remains something cautious about
the attitude to monogatari of both Genji and Michinaga as they are
depicted by Murasaki Shikibu. Genji admits only to standing by and
listening as tales are read to his daughter (3:203; S 437). Later he will
"spend a great deal of time selecting romances he thought suitable,
and ordering] them copied and illustrated" (Seidensticker's transla-
tion, 3:208; S 439). He does not admit to reading them himself. As
for Michinaga, he must slip into the author's unguarded room and
make off with her chapter drafts if he is to read the whole of the Genji.
In any case, Murasaki's own interpretation of the theft is that it was
for the benefit of Michinaga's second daughter Kenshi (994-1027).
In one sense this male/female division was a total fiction. It is
clear even from the meager evidence just examined that men did read
monogatari. Yet tradition may as readily take root in fantasy as in fact.
Whatever the facts of the matter, the fiction that monogatari were
6. Ibid., 180-82, slightly adapted.

7. Murasaki Shikibu, Murasaki Shikibu nikki Murasaki Shikibu shu, ed. Yamamoto Ritatsu,
Shincho Nihon koten shusei (Shinchosha, 1980), 52. For a translation, see Richard
Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu: Her Diary and Poetic Memoirs (Princeton: Princeton Univer-
sity Press, 1982), 91.
8. Murasaki Shikibu nikki, 55. Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu, 95.
9. Bowring, Murasaki Shikibu, 137. Murasaki Shikibu nikki, 96.
only for women proved a hardy notion. In Murasaki's day, defend the
worth of the genre though she may, refer obliquely to her own erudi-
tion as well, The Tale ofGenji was decidedly a women's book—in Tama-
gami Takuya's pithy formulation, Genji was "a story by a woman, for
women, of a woman's world."10 For a man to be able to admit to more
than standing by and listening as his womenfolk read aloud; for a man
to ask unabashed about the possibility of obtaining a complete manu-
script to read and have copied, as Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241) records
doing in his diary entry for the sixteenth day of the second month of
Gennin 2 (1225)11—the first mention of any monogatari in a man's
diary12—Genji had to become something other than a "story for
women." The Ichijo emperor's wonder at the author's learning showed
the way. If the Genji were to become an object of study—a classic—as
works in Chinese had long been, then it might become openly the
province of male as well as female readers.
By the late twelfth century, the first known commentary on
Genji had been compiled.13 Genji had become the object of scholarly
enquiry by men and therefore might be said to have entered the realm
of the classic. It is not that Genji ceased to be read as a romance; but
that by and large, men's concern with Genji has necessarily been of a
different order from the ecstatic reading described by Sugawara no
Takasue no Musume (1008-?) in her Sarashina nikki.14
10. Tamagami Takuya, "Onna ni yoru onna no tame no onna no sekai no monogatari," Kokubun-
gaku: kaishaku to kansho 26.6 (1961). Reprinted as "Onna no tame ni onna ga kaita onna
no sekai no monogatari," in Genji monogatari kenkyu (Kadokawa Shoten, 1966), 432-40.
11. Fujiwara Teika, Meigetsuki, ed. Hayakawa Junzaburo (Kobundo, 1911), 2:411.
12. Ikeda Toshio, "Kaisetsu," in Kogai Genji monogatari, by Yosano Akiko (Yokohama: Tsurumi
Daigaku, 1993), 1-2. Ikeda attaches considerable importance to this statistic: "Michinaga's
diary Mido kanpaku ki, as well as [Fujiwara no Sanesuke's diary] Shoyuki and [Fujiwara no
Yukinari's diary] Gonki, by court nobles who lived in the same age as Murasaki Shikibu,
transmit to the present age a vast body of fact concerning court society; yet not a single
mention survives in any of them, either of Genji monogatari or of any other work that
bears the name monogatari. Examination of the corpus of the best known records of later
times reveals the same. The first appearance of Genji monogatari in the diary of a male
aristocrat is in fact not to be found until the Kamakura period, in the Meigetsuki of Fujiwara
Teika. However much men may have discussed them in conversation, monogatari seem to
have existed in a separate sphere that was kept at a considerable remove from the prov-
ince of male diaries of the Heian period, which were recorded in a succession of kanji."
13. The first extant commentary on The Tale of Genji is Genji shaku by Fujiwara no Koreyuki
(?—1175). See Ikeda Kikan, Genji monogatari jiten (Tokyodo Shuppan, 1960), 2:65.
14. Sugawara no Takasue no Musume, Sarashina nikki, ed. Inukai Kiyoshi, NKBZ 18:302-3.
For English translations see Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism," 34, and Ivan Morris,
As I Crossed the Bridge of Dreams (New York: Dial Press, 1971), 55-57.
22 CHAPTER ONE
The study of Genji the classic took many different forms. As

political power shifted from the court aristocracy to a succession of
military clans, Genji became a vital source of information about the
correct conduct of court ceremony.15 Genji was mined by those who
believed that such fiction was sinful, salacious, or simply frivolous,
and, for different reasons, by those who did not.16 An ability to un-
derstand and make allusions to Genji became de rigueur for poets after
Fujiwara Shunzei's (1114-1204) famous declaration, at a poetry con-
test held in 1193, that "to compose poetry without having read Genji
is deplorable {Genji mizaru utayomi wa ikon no koto nari)"11
By the time we reach the end of the Muromachi period, this
accumulation of scholarship, lore, and the products of its application
had grown so vast that it could only be mastered by those willing and
able to devote their lives to the study of Genji. For the poet and would-
be classicist with somewhat less than a lifetime to devote to the pur-
suit, Kitamura Kigin compiled a selection from the best of the multi-
volume commentaries, which he published in combination with a com-
plete text of Genji. This work, the Kogetsusho (1673), was to become
the most widely circulated edition of The Tale of Genji throughout the
Edo period and well into the present century.
With the development of a commercial publishing industry in
the early years of the Pax Tokugawa, together with the new market
for books that it built and the new literacy that it fed, there came
greater changes in the readership of Genji than at any time during the
previous six centuries.18 What then became of the traditional male/
female division within this vastly larger and more varied readership?
We must recall first of all the shift in the custodianship of the classics
in which the study of Genji passed from the hands of the court nobil-
ity to a line of nonaristocratic scholars who practiced what Hagiwara
15. A commentary concerned exclusively with court dress, for example, compiled by renga
poet Soseki (1474-1533) and entitled Genji nannyo shozokusho (completed c. 1516; first
woodblock edition 1685) was printed at least seven times during the Edo period.
16. Buddhist apologies for Genji are discussed in Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism,"
48-58; for Confucian defenses of Genji, see 80-88.
17. Fujiwara Shunzei, in Kenkyu yonen roppyakuban uta-awase, ed. Taniyama Shigeru, NKBT
74:442.
18. See Peter Kornicki, The Book in Japan: A Cultural History from the Beginnings to the Nine-
teenth Century (Leiden, Boston, Koln: Brill, 1998), esp. 136-43 on the development of
commercial publishing, 169-222 on the book trade, and 258-69 on readers and reading
practices after 1600.
Hiromichi (1813-63) termed the "New Criticism" (shinchu)—Keichu

(1640-1701), Kamo no Mabuchi (1697-1769), Motoori Norinaga
(1730-1801), and of course Hiromichi himself.19 Revolutionary though
the interpretations of these scholars were, however, we must also note
that the nature of their activities remained commentarial and the prac-
titioners exclusively male. There was to be no crossing the male/fe-
male divide in the world of the classics.
More surprisingly, in the larger world of book publishing, we
find that according to the most comprehensive modern catalogues,
not a single new edition of a complete text of The Tale of Genji ap-
peared between 1706 and 1890, a period of almost two centuries.20
This is not to say that the text was unobtainable during these years.
Andrew Markus suggests that the numerous extant copies of the 1675
printing of the Kogetsusho indicate a large initial issue, many of which
19. This shift in custodianship is discussed by Thomas J. Harper, "The Tale of Genji in the
Eighteenth Century: Keichu, Mabuchi and Norinaga," in 18th Century Japan: Culture
and Society, ed. C. Andrew Gerstle (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1989), 106-23. Keichu is
the author of Genchushui (manuscript completed 1698; first published 1834); Mabuchi of
Genji monogatari shinshaku (c. 1758, first published 1816); Norinaga of Genji monogatari
Tama no ogushi (1799); and Hiromichi of Genji monogatari hydshaku (1861). On Hiromichi,
see Patrick W. Caddeau, "Hagiwara Hiromichi's Genji monogatari hydshaku: Criticism
and Commentary on The Tale of Genji" (Ph.D. diss., Yale University, 1998).
20. 1706 is the date of a reprint of the Shusho Genji monogatari (first published 1673), one of
the first editions of Genji to print the complete text within a frame that divided it from
the commentary. Extant printed editions of Genji are listed in Kokusho somokuroku: hoteiban
(Iwanami Shoten, 1989-90), 3:124. For listings of Meiji period publications, I have re-
lied on the National Diet Library (Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan) catalogue Meiji-ki kanko
tosho mokuroku: Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan shozo, vol. 4 (Kokkai Toshokan, 1973).
The Kan'en 2 (1749) "edition" of Genji listed in Kokusho somokuroku is in fact a set
of mamehon or miniature books. Each of the twenty-eight volumes contains just five leaves
of paper, the first of which is an illustration. The first volume consists of an outline (taVt)
and table of contents; into each subsequent volume are squeezed explanations of the
origin of two chapter titles. There is a photograph of what appears to be a very similar
set of Genji mamehon in two Tsurumi University Library (Tsurumi Daigaku Toshokan)
catalogues: Tsurumi Daigaku Toshokan zo kicho shoten mokuroku (Yokohama: Tsurumi
Daigaku, 1989), 30; and Geirinshuha: Tsurumi Daigaku Toshokan shinchiku kichosho toroku
(Yokohama: Tsurumi Daigaku, 1986), 36, and commentary 82-83. The Tsurumi set, how-
ever, includes a large sheet of heavy paper divided into numbered rectangles, complete
with instructions for its use. This sheet is the "board" on which the tiny volumes are
moved in place of the pieces customarily used in the game oisugoroku or backgammon, of
which this is apparently a version. Although the Tsurumi set is slightly smaller than the
set held by the National Diet Library, given the other similarities of form and presenta-
tion, it is probably safe to assume that the National Diet Library set was also originally
intended to be used in a version of sugoroku,
24 CHAPTER ONE
would have remained in circulation.21 It is also likely that reprints

were made from old blocks without altering the colophons, even
though evidence of such printings cannot be gleaned from catalogues.
Be that as it may, demand for printed editions of other works in the
classical canon, particularly Kokinshu, he monogatari, and Tsurezuregusa,
seems to have been far greater than demand for Genji.
The immense cost of a complete text of Genji is surely one
reason for the apparent lack of demand for the work. As Richard Bow-
ring points out, "[I]n 1696 a copy [of the Kogetsusho] was selling for
well over twenty times what it cost to buy a work of contemporary
fiction, well beyond the reach of the average reading public."22 In-
deed, the long hiatus in the publication of new editions of Genji lends
further support to Bowring's assertion that "[t]he work was so long
and so difficult, the language now so remote, that it remained one of
the great 'unreads.'"23
This does not mean, however, that Genji passed out of the con-
sciousness of generations of readers. For those without the money to
buy or borrow a copy, or for those who lacked the time, the desire, or
simply the linguistic ability to read the complete text, there were di-
gests that could be used to acquire a passing acquaintance with the
work. Originally compiled for use by poets as a "shortcut" to Genji,
several had been in circulation since the first half of the fifteenth cen-
tury. As the renga master S5chd (1448-1532) said when asked, "People
nowadays say that if you do not know Genji thoroughly you should
not use it when the preceding link happens to allude to something
from the past. Is this indeed so?"
Of course it is best to have been through the entire work and know
it well, but it would be hard to find one person in a thousand who
has. A scrap of brocade, small though it be, can still make a talis-
man or an ornament. And likewise with The Tale of Genji. Even if
21. Andrew L. Markus, "Representations of Genji monogatari in Edo Period Fiction" (paper
presented at the 8th conference on Oriental-Western Literary and Cultural Relations,
Indiana University, August 1982), 6. The 1675 printing of the Kogetsusho is the only one
listed in Kokusho somokuroku, 3:389. An earlier printing, from the first year of Enpo (1673),
is given in Kokubungaku Kenkyu Shiryokan, ed., Kotenseki sogo mokuroku (Iwanami Shoten,
1990), 1:334.
22. Richard Bowring, Landmarks of World Literature: Murasaki Shikibu: The Tale of Genji (Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988), 92-93. Bowring's information is from Markus,
"Representations of Genji monogatari" 6.
23. Bowring, Landmarks, 92.
you know only one passage, why shouldn't you make a link of it if
an appropriate occasion arises?24
The longevity of Sdcho's attitude is attested in the variety of digest

versions of Genji, and their rapid proliferation during the Edo pe-
riod.25 The titles of these works are revealing. The most popular, for
example, was Genji kokagami, "A Little Genji Mirror."26 In 1661, the
haikai poet Nonoguchi Ryuho (1595-1669) published an illustrated
digest called Jujo Genji, "A Genji in Ten Chapters;" and in 1665 he
brought out a simplified version of the same work to which he gave
the title Osana Genji, "A Young Person's Genji.mi Of course such titles
need not be taken entirely at face value, for they are likely to have
been read by anyone, male or female, who was content to have their
dose of the classic in popular, abbreviated, or simplified form.
Another "shortcut" to Genji open to both sexes was vernacu-
lar translation (zokugoyaku). These were part of a growing interest in
and demand for translations of the classics, apparently among those
who read for pleasure as well as for academic or artistic ends.28 The
24. Socho, "Renga hikyo shu," in Renga ronshu ge, ed. Ijichi Tetsuo (Iwanami Shoten, 1956),
174-75.
25. See the list in Teramoto Naohiko, Genji monogatari juyoshi ronko (seihen) (Kazama Shobo,
1970), 595-96. An account in English is provided by Markus, "Representations of Genji
monogatari? 7-8.
26. Although the date of the compilation of Genji kokagami is unknown, Shimizu Fukuko,
"Kaisetsu," in Shusho Genji monogatari Eawase Matsukaze (Izumi Shoin, 1989), 141, firmly
dates the first printed edition as Keicho 15 (1610).
27. Information from Ikeda, Genji monogatari jit en 2:40 {Osana Genji); 2:107-8 (Jujo Genji);
and NKBD 1:487 (Osana Genji); 3:277 (Jujo Genji). For facsimile editions of these works
see Genji monogatari shiryo eiin shiisei, ed. Nakano Koichi (Waseda Daigaku Shuppanbu,
1989-90), vol. 10 (Osana Genji) and vols. 11-12 (Jujo Genji). The discussion oijujo Genji
in Markus, "Representations of Genji monogatari? 8-9, contains two errors that should
be corrected: the work was illustrated, with over a hundred woodcuts by the author; and
it was printed more than once, though the dates of subsequent printings have not been
established.
28. The first complete translations of a classical text into modern Japanese were, of course,
the vernacular versions of the Kokinshu in eighteenth-century Kansai Japanese, one by
Motoori Norinaga and another by Ozaki Masayoshi (1755—1827). Masayoshi's version
was entitled Kokinshu hinakotoba (A Rustic Kokinshu, 1796). Norinaga called his version
Kokinshu tokagami (A Kokinshu Telescope, 1797); it may be found in Motoori Norinaga
zenshHj ed. Okubo Tadashi (Chikuma Shobo, 1969), 3:1-291. For a translation of Nori-
naga's preface to Kokinshu tokagami, see T. J. Harper, "Norinaga on the Translation of
Waka\ His Preface to A Kokinshu Telescope? in The Distant Isle: Studies and Translations of
Japanese Literature in Honor of Robert H. Brower, ed. Thomas Hare, Robert Borgen, and
Sharalyn Orbaugh, Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies, no. 15 (Ann Arbor:
Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan, 1996), 205-30.
26 CHAPTER ONE
most complete list of Edo period vernacular versions of Genji was

compiled by Fujita TokutarS (1901-45) in 1932.29 His chapter of
"translations and versions" (yakubun honJan) lists more than a dozen
attempts to render Genji in the contemporary language. Given that
these items in Fujita's bibliography constitute but a small subgenre of
a large branch of the publishing industry devoted to the translation of
all manner of works originally written in classical Japanese (not to
mention Chinese), it seems no exaggeration to say that vernacular
translation was to become almost as important in the Edo period as it
is today.
Not only were there what might be called "pure" translations;
the translation of classical Japanese into the vernacular might at times
verge upon parody30 and even pornography. Furyu Genji monogatari
(A Fashionable Tale of Genji, 1703), for example, is described by
Noguchi Takehiko as a "decidedly pornographic, in reality parodic"
version of Genji}1 One might also mention Koshoku ichidai otoko (The
Life of an Amorous Man, 1682) by Ihara Saikaku (1642-93) and Nise
murasaki inaka Genji (An Imposter Murasaki and a Rustic Genji, 1829-
42) by Ryutei Tanehiko (1783-1842) as works which, while princi-
pally parody, also contain elements of translation.32
The popularity of these new "shortcuts" to Genji—digests, ver-
nacular translations, and parodies—signals not the disappearance of
the old polarity of men's classic/women's romance but rather the de-
velopment of a multitude of hybrid responses that lay somewhere
between the two extremes. Near one end of the continuum, a digest,
originally written for renga/haikai poets in a hurry, might just as well
serve the needs of a woman wishing to acquire a quick veneer of courtly
refinement: hence the woodblock print showing a prostitute writing
a letter to one of her clients with a Genji digest on her desk at the
29. Fujita Tokutaro, Genji monogatari kenkyu shomoku yoran (Rokubunkan, 1932).
30. Reuben A. Brower acknowledges the connection between the two activities in the "Trans-
lation as Parody" chapter of his Mirror on Mirror: Translation, Imitation, Parody (Cam-
bridge: Harvard University Press, 1974), 1-16.
31. Noguchi Takehiko, Genji monogatari o Edo karayomu (Kodansha, 1985), 85.
32. See Noguchi's chapter "Tokai bungaku toshite no Inaka Genji," in ibid., 81-106, for a
much more subtle and detailed discussion of these points. In English, see Andrew L.
Markus, The Willow in Autumn: Ryutei Tanehiko, 1783-1842, Harvard-Yenching Institute
Monograph Series, no. 35 (Cambridge and London: Council on East Asian Studies,
Harvard University, 1992).
ready.33 Near the opposite end is a work such as the Amayo monogatari
damikotoba (The Rainy Night Tale in Eastern Dialect). Completed in
1769 and first published c. 1777, it is a commentary on the famous
"Rainy Night Ranking" of women section of the 'Hahakigi' (The
Broom Tree) chapter. Although prepared by the bakufu official and
scholar of National Learning {kokugakusha) Kato Umaki (1721-77),
Amayo monoga-tari damikotoba was ostensibly not intended for use by
(male) classicists, but was commissioned by "a person who had many
daughters" as a version of Genji suitable for them to read.34
Evidence of specifically female readership of The Tale of Genji
is unfortunately scanty: we know of only one or two women who were
reading Genji, and not because they have left accounts of their read-
ing, but because that reading left its traces in their writing. Ogimachi
Machiko (P-1724),35 a consort of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (1658-1714),
Grand Chamberlain (sobayonin) to the fifth shogun Tokugawa Tsuna-
yoshi (1646-1709; r. 1680-1709) was one such reader. Her Matsukage
nikki (compiled c. 1710-14), a highly personal reconstruction of Yana-
gisawa 's rise to power and his days of glory 1685-1709, is resonant
with echoes of The Tale of Genji. For example, an account of a visit by
Tsunayoshi to Yanagisawa's residence recalls the 'Otome' chapter, and
a description of Yanagisawa's villa on the then outskirts of Edo at
Komagome calls to mind Genji's Rokujo-in.36 The Matsukage nikki
33. See the colored reproduction of the woodblock print in the collection of the Riccar Art
Museum, Tokyo, by Chobunsai Eishi (1756-1829) entitled "Furyu ryaku rokkasen mitate
Kisen," in Ukiyo-e sanbyakunen meisakuten (Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha, 1979), unnumbered
pages before page 1. The print is item no. 152, discussed on p. 9. The woman depicted is
probably a Fukagawa prostitute, since Kisen's poem, (Kokinshu, no. 983, NKBZ 7:365)
which appears in the top right-hand corner of the print, begins "Waga io wa miyako no
tatsumi," and Fukagawa was to the southeast of Edo and hence referred to obliquely as
"tatsumi." The whole conception of the print is heavily ironic: the prostitute instead of
the monk, the brothel instead of the hermitage, and of course Kisen himself was long
dead by the time Genji was written.
34. Information from Ikeda, Genji monogatari j hen, 2:36 and NKBD 1:660-61. Despite Kato's
protestations of the modesty of his aims, Motoori Norinaga pays Damikotoba the compli-
ment of frequent criticism in his commentary on the 'Hahakigi' chapter.
35. Masubuchi Katsuichi, "Ogimachi Machiko ko," Namiki no sato, no. 31 (May 1989): 29,
posits a birth date of 1676.
36. See the discussion in Noguchi, Genji monogatari, 107-33. The text of Matsukage nikki may
be found in Joryu bungaku zenshu, ed. Furuya Chishin (Bungei Shoin, 1918), 1:59-284.
Reprinted in Edo jidai joryu bungaku zenshu (Nihon Tosho Sentaa, 1979), volume and
page numbers unchanged. For a modern Japanese translation of Matsukage nikki, see
Masubuchi Katsuichi, trans., Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu sokushitsu no nikki—Matsukage nikki—
(Ryugasaki: Kokuken Shuppan, 1999).
28 CHAPTER ONE
provides clear evidence that Machiko had access to a copy of Genji

and was intimately familiar with the work.
Markus maintains that "it is a certainty that [Genji] was read
and did retain a devoted female following in the latter Edo period."37
He cites several senryii about women who read Genji; and a satirical
passage from Ukiyoburo (1809-13) by Shikitei Sanba (1776-1822) in
which two women (named after two species of duck whose names hap-
pen to coincide with two verb endings commonly found in classical
poetry: one is "Kamoko," the other "Keriko") encounter each other
at a bathhouse and chat about their recent reading: one has begun to
reread Utsuho monogatari; the other is "annotating" her copy of Genji
with the help of Mabuchi's Shinshaku and Norinaga's Tama no ogushi.
Markus's translation of the scene, unfortunately only available in type-
script, is given here in full:
Keriko: "Kamoko-san. What are you perusing these days?"
Kamoko: "Well now, just as I was thinking that I might reread
Utsuho, I was lucky enough to find an edition in movable type and
so I am collating the texts. But I have been interrupted by this and
that since last year and so I put it aside having got as far as the
latter half of the 'Toshikage' chapter [the first chapter of Utsuho]."
Keriko: "You have got your hands on something nice."
Kamoko: "Keriko-san. I expect you're still with Genji}"
Keriko: "Yes indeed. With the Venerable Kamo's Shinshaku and
the Great Motoori's Tama no ogushi as my guides, I had just begun
annotating it, but what with all the distractions of the mundane
world, I have hardly had time to pick up my brush."38
Although "Kamoko" and "Keriko" could be "figments of Sanba's fan-

tasy" as much as "the exaggeration of observable stereotypes," Markus
concludes that "there were women of leisure and education who at
least attempted the study of classics on their own, and made use of
major commentaries in their pursuit of a cultivated understanding of
the texts."39
37. Markus, "Representations of Genji monogatari," 28-29.

38. Ibid., 29-30, slightly adapted. Original in Shikitei Sanba, Ukiyoburo, ed. Nakamura Michio,
NKBT63:220. See also Maruya Saiichi's humorous comments on these onna kokugakusha
in Ono Susumu and Maruya Saiichi, "Kamoko to Keriko no koto kara hanashi wa
hajimaru," in Nihongo de ichiban daiji na mono (Chuo Koronsha, 1990), 7.
39. Markus, "Representations of Genji monogatari," 30.
One such woman was Kanzawa Tami, the daughter of Kanzawa

Toko (1710-95), a deputy (yoriki) in the office of the Kyoto City Mag-
istrate (Kyoto machi bugyo). Toko also wrote haikai and was a prolific
essayist. Tami was the youngest of his five children, and, as she was
the only one to survive childhood, he made her his heir. In his 200-
volume miscellany Okinagusa (published in part 1784), Toko describes
how he copied the entire Mingo nisso40—a total of 3,333 pages—by
getting up early in the morning and working by lamplight in the
evening. He then explains his decision to pass the finished work on to
his daughter:
My heir Tamiko has from childhood adored [Genji] and always
had it by her side. Often Tamiko would enlighten me about things
which I was unclear about, or could not remember at all. There-
fore, rather than keep [the copy of the Mingo nisso] for myself,
though not without some reluctance, I decided to pass it on to
Tamiko as something to remember me by. When I gave it to her,
box and all, she was as delighted as ever I could have hoped. More-
over, taking the poetry index, she wrote in it a preface of her own.41
Tami's preface, in which the imagery of conventional Buddhist senti-

ment acts as a veil of modesty for her passion for Genji, reads as follows:
Surely this has been said any number of times by poets from ages
past: when one does not comprehend the nuances of a text, to
what can one turn for help? But the moon shines with equal bril-
liance upon the eaves of the poor; how then can it pass by unheed-
ing the humble hut of the saltmaker? I have for many years steeped
myself deeply in this monogatari. Brushing away the mists of dawn,
dampened by the dews of evening, I have pored over these fifty-
four chapters, time and again, scroll after scroll, a thousand upon
thousands of times; all the while persisting in my delusion in this
ephemeral mundane world where one knows not which will be
the first to fall, the dewdrop upon the tip of the branch or the
droplet upon the stem, where just as the hailstone upon the leaf of
the scrub bamboo (tamasasa) vanishes no sooner than it is taken
up, time passes not as one would wish; and so it is with those un-
fathomable thousand-league depths [of Genji] that I failed to un-
derstand no matter how often I read. Shallow as I am, how am I to
40. A commentary on Genji by Nakanoin Michikatsu (1558-1610), completed in 1598.

41. Kanzawa Toko, "Mingo nisso," in Okinagusa book 141, Nihon zuihitsu taisei, 3rd ser. (Nihon
Zuihitsu Taisei Kankokai, 1931), 13:131-32.
30 CHAPTER ONE
abandon these ties of fondness and affection [for Genji], to cross

the floating bridge of dreams from this life to a world of words
free of frivolity? Such is the excess of my pride.
Koto no ha o kakiatsumetaru moshiogusa

yomu tomo tsukiji miru ni masarite.
Words raked together as seaweed: however much read, inexhaustible;
better than actual experience. 42
But, alas, the devotion of Kanzawa Tami produced no more in the

way of commentary than the efforts of Kamoko and Keriko.
Further evidence, though less direct, of female readership is
to be found in the ongoing debate over the moral advisability of women
reading The Tale ofGenji—and even in the demimonde. The Confu-
cian scholars Kumazawa Banzan (1619-91) and Ando Tameakira
(1659-1716) maintained that the female characters in Genji were ex-
emplars of the various virtues women ought to cultivate.43 Such a view
explains, perhaps, Genji's suitability zsyome-iri dogu, an item in a bride's
trousseau, exquisitely bound and arranged (in more expensive ver-
sions) in a set of black and gold lacquered drawers.44 Kanzawa Tami's
father certainly approved of his daughter's knowledge of Genji and
the same may well have been true for Ogimachi Machiko, since in her
Matsukage nikki she recalls receiving her education at her father's side.45
Others, however, seem to have felt that reading Genji was not
merely a threat to morality but positively unhealthy. In his advice to
pregnant women, the Confucian doctor Ino Koken (1610-80) wrote:
When reading books, choose those of which neither the words
nor pictures will cause agitation; books such as Yamato shogaku or
42. Ibid. The interpretation suggested here depends upon taking miru in its sense of "to expe-
rience," though it was probably chosen by the author more for its service as an engo than
for its denotational meaning. Even specialists in Japanese poetry with whom I have dis-
cussed possible interpretations of the poem find it mystifying.
43. Noguchi, Genji monogatari, 6-7; Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism," 83-88 and 91-98.
The fullest account in any language of Banzan's work on Genji is to be found in two studies by
James McMullen: Genji gaiden: The Origins ofKumazawa Banzan's Commentary on The Tale of
Genji (Reading: Ithaca Press, 1991); and Idealism, Protest and the Tale ofGenji: The Confucian-
ism of Kumazawa Banzan (1619-91) (Oxford: Oxford University Press, Clarendon Press, 1999).
44. There is a photograph of one such item from the middle of the Edo period in Tsurumi
Daigaku Toshokan, Tsurumi Daigaku Toshokan zo kicho shoten mokuroku, 10.
45. Ogimachi, Matsukage nikki, 159-60; Noguchi, Genji monogatari, 110-11.
Kagamigusa are permissible but on no account should works such

as The Tale ofGenji be read.46
The Confucian scholar Kaibara Ekiken (1630-1714) was of a similar

opinion:
One must be selective in what one allows young women to read.

There is no harm in those books depicting the events of the past.
Do not allow them to read kouta and joruri books: they do not
teach the true way of the sages and are tinged with frivolity. More-
over, one should not readily allow them to read such books as he
monogatari, Genji monogatari and their ilk, which, although pos-
sessed of a literary elegance, depict licentious behavior.47
While Confucian scholars might debate the advisability of

women of leisure reading monogatari, for the professional woman of
higher rank, familiarity with Genji was an essential accomplishment.
Though digests must often have sufficed for this purpose, there are
also accounts of such women sending for impoverished court nobles
to read Genji and other classical texts to them.48 Perhaps some even
managed to read Genji by themselves: a scene from "Mina no kawa"
(Men and Women Getting Together), a series of woodblock prints by
Numata Gabimaru (1787-1864), shows a prostitute at her work; on
the other side of a pile of rumpled bedding can be seen a large box,
labeled somewhat emphatically "Kogetsusho zen," that is, "The Koge-
tsushS Complete." A volume lies open on her desk, and beside it a
writing brush and inkstone, as if to suggest that the arrival of a cus-
tomer has momentarily called her away from her study of Genji.49
Kigin's Kogetsusho makes another appearance in Seiro hiru no
sekai: Nishiki no ura (A Brothel in the Light of Day: The Other Side
46. "Taikyo," section one of Ino K5ken's Inago gusa (1690), in Nihon kyoiku bunko, ed. Kurokawa
Mamichi and Otaki Jun (Dobunkan, 1911), 12:50. Yamato shogaku (1659) by Tsujihara
Genpo (1622-?) and Kagamigusa (1647) by Nakae Toju (1608-48) were moralizing tracts
derived from Chinese Confucian texts and designed for a female readership.
47. Kaibara Ekiken, "Joshi o oshiyuru ho," in Wazoku ddji kun, ed. Ishikawa Ken (Iwanami
Shoten, 1961), 268-69.
48. Noguchi, Genji monogatari, 5-6. See also the examples in Markus, "Representations of
Genji monogatari," 16-17.
49. Fukuda Kazuhiko, ed., Ehon ukiyoe sen (Kawade Shobo Shinsha, 1990), 74. Numata was
apparently in the service of the Nagoya domain, but in what capacity is not known.
32 CHAPTER ONE
of the Brocade, 1791), zsharebon by Santo Kyoden (1761-1816) which

is set in a brothel:
Meanwhile, in Yugiri's room the juniors have been getting out the
chopstick boxes and gold-lacquered trays, and setting out tea bowls.
Steam is whistling from a kettle hanging over a brazier. They put
some tea on top of a copy of Kogetsushu [an alternative title for
Kogetsusho] nearby, pull out the drawers of the smoking set, and
fill the tobacco pouches.50
No further mention of the commentary is made. Unopened and serving

as a cupstand, the Kogetsusho appears along with poem-cards and tor-
toise-shell hairpins, essential to the decor of a well-furnished boudoir.
For the female reader of the Edo period, then, familiarity with
The Tale of Genji might improve her behavior as daughter, wife, and
mother; might "endanger" her physical and moral well-being; might
enhance her reputation as cultivated prostitute. Whatever the results,
however, Genji remained for them what it had been for all women
since the time of its creation. For Ogimachi Machiko as much as for
Kanzawa Tami, it remained an avocation, an adjunct of their recre-
ational reading. The great scholars of the work, their male contem-
poraries of the Edo period, came from the world of Genji as a classic.
Any woman who might presume to join their number—as did
"Kamoko" and "Keriko"—is a figure of fun.
Akiko's childhood reading too has much in common with what
we can glean of earlier female readers of Genji. Indeed Akiko herself
suggests a parallel with Takasue no Musume, the Sarashina diarist.
For both young women, The Tale of Genji was everything that
monogatari had always been: absorbing, transporting, ultimately es-
capist. And yet, for both of them, it was this childhood reading that
nurtured abilities that later led to greater accomplishments—as a "nov-
elist" for the Sarashina diarist; and as a scholar for Akiko:
From the time that she was a young woman living in the country-
side in an eastern province, the author of The Sarashina diary read
50. Translation by Peter F. Kornicki, "Nishiki no Ura: An Instance of Censorship and the
Structure of a Sharebon," Monumenta Nipponica 32.2 (Summer 1977): 176.
works of literature and, in as much as she had been born a woman,

she wanted somehow or other to grow up to be a beautiful woman,
like Yugao or Ukifune in The Tale of Genji, and be loved, even if
only briefly, by a sensitive man like the Shining Genji, and with
that in mind she cultivated herself accordingly. Ultimately she
achieved her aim of going up to the capital, where she wrote The
Tale ofSagoromo and other such novels. It is unfortunate that young
women these days do not have such self-confidence. (14:111)
In a similar manner, Akiko's lifelong relationship with Genji

might be characterized as a movement from the world of Genji-zs-
romance to the world of Gew/7-as-classic. But for Akiko to do what
only men had been able to do in the past—make a career of Genji—
presupposed many external changes, changes in old categories. Chap-
ter three will attempt to account for those changes. But it is to a de-
scription of Akiko's childhood reading that we must first turn.
Chapter Two:
Secret Joy: Akiko's Childhood Reading
Wagajuni mono no aware o sbirigao ni

yomitaru Genji Makura no soshi. (2:393)'
At twelve, with "sensitivity" written all over my face,
I read Genji and The Pillow Book.
Genji oba junisan nite yomishi nochi

omowareji to zo mitsure otoko o. (3:194)
At twelve or thirteen I read Genji; and thereafter
hoped I should never be loved by any man I then knew!
And while Akiko was reading Genji—-at about the same age
and in the same frame of mind as the Sarashina diarist nearly a thou-
sand years earlier—what were her contemporaries reading? At least a
partial answer to this question can be found in a survey of sixty-nine
notables of the literary world (only one of whom, alas, was female)
compiled in 1889 by Tokutomi Soho (1863-1957).2 No more than
twenty-four of the sixty-nine, or just over a third of those who sub-
mitted replies, included a work of classical Japanese literature—one
written before 1600—in their lists. This compares with twenty-seven
who mentioned a work of Edo period literature, twenty-eight a work
of Western literature, and no fewer than thirty who listed a work of
Chinese literature (not including philosophy) among their favorites.3
1. This poem is possibly an allusion to the section of the 'Kocho' (Butterflies) chapter in
which Genji lectures Ukon and Tamakazura on correct form in replying to letters from
potential suitors. See 3:170; S 425.
2. Tokutomi Soh5, ed., "Shomoku jisshu," Kokumin no tomo, no. 48 (supplement: April 1889):
1-18; no. 49 (May 1889): 30-32; and no. 54 (July 1889): 28-29.
3. Peter F. Kornicki, "The Survival of Tokugawa Fiction in the Meiji Period," Harvard Journal
of'Asiatic Studies 41.2 (December 1981): 461-82, esp. 478-80.
34
AKIKO'S CHILDHOOD READING 35
Akiko was only ten years old in 1889 when these surveys were
published, but in 1922, when she was old enough to look back and
remember what she had been reading at that time, she wrote the fol-
lowing account:
At the age of eleven or twelve, I read the historical works of the

Heian period—Eiga monogatari, Okagami, Masukagami and such,
and at the same time I also read the more purely literary works
such as Genji, Utsuho, Sagoromo and Makura no soshi. I didn't un-
derstand them at first, but as I read on, I came in the natural course
of things to understand them clearly, and this was my secret joy.
After I had finished reading Heian history and literature, I
moved on to the Nara period, and by the time I was seventeen or
eighteen, I had more or less read the whole of Kamakura- and
Edo-period literature and history. Meagerly informed though they
were, the judgments that I arrived at were at least my own. There
was much Edo-period writing that was trivial and did not attract
me: I skimmed through it. After I had read Chikamatsu and Saika-
ku, I could not feel that Bakin and Tanehiko were good writers.
And having read Kokinshu, Man'yoshu, Saigyo and Rihaku [Li Po],
it goes without saying that I found it impossible to consider Mabu-
chi and Kageki, or even Basho outstanding poets. (18:432-33)
Akiko is quite specific about what she read, and what she liked and
did not like. She also reveals that her reading was a private, even a
hidden pleasure. How do her reading experience and her taste com-
pare with other literary figures of the day? The results of the "Shomoku
jisshu" surveys—even allowing for some inevitable emphasis on the
highbrow in readers' responses—suggest that her extensive familiar-
ity with Heian literature and her low opinion of Edo works put her in
a minority. Akiko would probably concur in this assessment of the
evidence.
In the two poems cited above, we see Akiko recalling with
amusement the early reading of The Tale of Genji that, in her own
mind at least, set her apart from the world into which she had been
born. The frequency with which she harks back to her childhood read-
ing in the essays and poetry of her adulthood attests the importance
she attached to this solitary pleasure.
This chapter, therefore, will first examine Akiko's childhood
reading in the context of her upbringing and education, making such
comparisons with her Meiji contemporaries as the sources permit.
36 CHAPTER TWO
Thereafter the focus shifts to the effects of that reading. The purpose
of this juxtaposition is to suggest that Akiko's spectacular leap from
provincial comfort, circumscribed by daughterly duty, to a literary
career in the capital was not the result of a desire to overturn tradi-
tion, or to be true to some modern "sense of self." Rather, I shall
argue, Akiko's was a flight inspired by fiction, a real-life romance she
had already rehearsed in fantasies born of her childhood reading of
Genji.
Akiko was born on 7 December 1878, the eleventh year of

Meiji, to the Hd4 family, who were second-generation proprietors of
a sweetshop, the Surugaya of Sakai.5 Akiko's name appears in the fam-
ily register as Sho rendered in kana\ she did not have a Chinese char-
acter with which to write her name until sometime around the turn of
the century when she adopted the character Sho "translucent, bright"
and reinvented herself as "Akiko."6
It would appear that she was at least a third-generation book-
worm. In Mori Fujiko's (1919- ) account of her mother Akiko's early
life, she notes that Akiko's uncle, her father's elder brother, had been
permitted by his mother to spend his entire life doing as he pleased—
which was to retreat to his room and read. Akiko's grandfather, too,
was apparently a younger son whose elder brother had preferred a
life of reading to the drudgery of doing business.7 Akiko grew up in a
house that had always supported at least one full-time reader.
The Surugaya was run in the main by Akiko's grandmother
Shizu and mother Tsune, with the help of the female children.8 There
4. Although Akiko occasionally read her maiden name as Otori, the correct reading is Ho. See
Shinma Shin'ichi, Yosano Akiko (Ofusha, 1981), 13, who speculates that "Ho" is a new
name, invented in the early Meiji period.
5. See the reproductions of a Meiji period wood-block print of the Surugaya, its sweetwrappers
and advertisements, and a later watercolor by Kishiya Seiz5 (1899-1980) in the exhibi-
tion catalogue Yosano Akiko—sono shogai to sakuhin—, ed. Sakai Hakubutsukan (Sakai: Sakai
Hakubutsukan, 1991), 10-12.
6. An early use of the resulting pen name "Akiko" is her signature to a letter addressed to poet
Kawai Suimei (1874-1965) and dated 6 January 1900. See the photograph in ibid., 15.
7. Mori Fujiko, Midaregami (Rukkusha, 1967), 9-10.
8. Akiko had two older half-sisters, children of Akiko's father by his first wife. Soshichi (at the
behest of his mother, according to some accounts) had divorced their mother but kept
the daughters, who worked in the shop until they were old enough to be married.
was nothing unusual about this arrangement: its antecedents are to be

found at least as early as the Muromachi period and throughout the Edo
period.9 Unfortunately, the Surugaya was destroyed by fire during the
Second World War and the post-war building was demolished when the
Osaka-Sakai railway link was constructed; a memorial poem-plaque now
marks the spot with one of Akiko's most famous poems:
Umi koishi shio no tonari kazoetsutsu

otome to narishi chichi hah a no ie. (1:127)
How I long for the sea! And for the house of my father and mother
where I grew to girlhood, counting the distant roll of the waves.
Her father, too, loved books and spent his time dabbling in
various pursuits: he submitted haiku to newspapers and magazines,
tried his hand at painting and decided that the Surugaya should sell
Western liquor as well as the traditional sweet yokan.10 Thus Akiko
had access not only to the considerable library amassed by her pecu-
liar bookish forebears, but also to current newspapers and literary
magazines subscribed to by her father or sent down from Tokyo by
her older brother who was studying at Tokyo University. She recalled
that Shigarami zoshi (1889-94) and Mesamashigusa (1896-1902), both
edited by Mori Ogai (1862-1922); and Bungakkai (1893-98), edited
by Togawa Shukotsu (1870-1939) and others, were particular favor-
ites.11 There was also a circulating library (kashihonyya) not far from
the shop where the family lived. Akiko describes the family library as
consisting of "a large amount of assorted literary material from the
Edo period that my grandmother had read" (18:433). It is hard to
imagine Shizu having had the time to read so much that a collection
was formed, but all commentators seem to agree that there was a con-
siderable amount of reading matter in the Ho house.12
9. Wakita Haruko, "A Century of Superwomen: Women of Kamigata Merchant Houses in the
Late Medieval and Early Modern Eras," trans. G. G. Rowley, in Kansai Japan in the Eigh-
teenth Century, ed. C. Andrew Gerstle, forthcoming.
10. Mori, Midaregami, 12.
11. Yosano Akiko, "Yabukoji," (1906-7) cited in Fukuda Kiyoto and Hamana Hiroko, Yosano
Akiko, Hito to sakuhin series (Shimizu Shoin, 1968), 25.
12. Mori, Midaregami, 18; Shinma Shin'ichi, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari," in Genji
monogatari to sono eikyo: kenkyu to shiryo—kodai bungaku ronso dairokushu, ed. Murasaki
Shikibu Gakkai (Musashino Shoin, 1978), 250.
38 CHAPTER TWO
Sakai, the city where Akiko was born, lies on the Inland Sea
about fifteen kilometers south of Osaka, of which it is now, adminis-
tratively at least, a part. During the period of civil war preceding the
closing of the country early in the seventeenth century, Sakai was a
prosperous trading port, but by the end of the Tokugawa period its
importance had been usurped by Osaka.13 Sakai-born poet Kawai
Suimei, a close friend of Akiko all her life, described the city as it was
when the two were young:
Sakai was at that time a city which appeared to be sound asleep. It
was conservative and old ways were valued. Tea ceremony, flower
arranging, the chanting of Noh and so on were practiced; and the
reciting of gidayil, as well as classical dance, koto, shamisen and
the like were enjoyed by every family.14
Akiko herself took lessons in koto, shamisen, and classical danc-

ing. Her father also sent her to an academy of Chinese studies for a
few years, which would have acquainted her with the basics of the
Chinese classics. It is doubtful that her education in this subject would
have extended to the study of Po Chii-i's Song ofEverlasting Sorrow, as
Sato Haruo surmises.15 But it certainly would have prepared her to
read the poem later in life, as her poetic oeuvre shows she did:
Anakashiko Yokihi no goto kiraremu to

omoitachishi wajilgo no otome. (2:30)
13. For an account of Sakai's development from two neighboringsbden (one in the province of
Settsu, the other in Izumi, thus the name Sakai "border") to a port city that prospered
from both domestic and foreign trade, through 1569 when the city submitted to a war tax
of 20,000 kan and became a direct holding of Oda Nobunaga, see two articles by V. Dixon
Morris: "Sakai: From Shoen to Port City," in Japan in the Muromachi Age, ed. John W.
Hall and Toyoda Takeshi (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977), 145-58; and
"The City of Sakai and Urban Autonomy," in Warlords, Artists, and Commoners: Japan in
the Sixteenth Century, ed. George Elison and Bardwell L. Smith (Honolulu: The Univer-
sity Press of Hawaii, 1981), 23-54.
14. Kawai Suimei, "Akiko-san no Sakai jidai," Shomotsu tenbo 12.7 Quly 1942): 72-73. See also
Mori, Midaregami, 32-33. In Akiko's own description of her hometown, "Sakai no shigai,"
written in 1915 for the young readers of Shinshojo and collected in Watakushi no oidachi
(1985; reprint, Kankosha, 1990), 95-101, she outlines the shape of the city—its bridges
and streets, its shrines and temples, the mountains in the distance and the sea close by—
without conveying much of a sense of what it was like to grow up there, and so I have
preferred here Suimei's oft-cited description of the city.
15. Sato Haruo, Akiko mandara (Kodansha, 1954), 11-13.
Such distress! The fifteen-year-old virgin

convinced she will be cut up just like Yang Kuei-fei.
After completing primary school in 1888 she began to attend

the newly established Sakai Women's School. In conservative Sakai at
that time it was unusual for the children of a sweet-maker to go on to
higher education, writes Mori, who sees Akiko's extended schooling
as evidence of her father Soshichi's regard for scholarship.16 Sdshichi's
enthusiasm for education was possibly also influenced by the efforts
of the Japanese government, which in a series of Education Acts and
ordinances issued from 1872 on, had aimed to centralize and stan-
dardize education throughout the nation, exhorting every man to "sub-
ordinate all other matters to the education of his children."17
Akiko, however, remained dissatisfied with her education. Sew-
ing and home economics formed the core of the curriculum at school;
at home, her older sisters were married off and she, aged eleven, took
their place behind the counter of the family shop:
My older brother and younger sister and brother received their
education at school, but my mother and I were tied down by the
busy family business and I did not go to school.18
While this account is somewhat exaggerated—Akiko graduated from

the Sakai Women's School in 1892 and continued on to the Supple-
mentary Course {hoshuka) for a further two years—it is clear that her
schooling "was not enough to satisfy her intellectual cravings," as one
critic has put it:
Moreover, there were the constraints of her work helping in the
family business. For the spirited Akiko, single-handed study of
the Japanese classics and immersion in newly published novels was
the only road left to her.19

17. From the proclamation to the Education Act of 1872, cited in G. B. Sansom, The Western
World and Japan (1930; reprint, Rutland, Vt. & Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle, 1977), 456.
18. Yosano Akiko, "Yoriaibanashi," (1909) cited in Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari,"
249.
19. Shinma Shin'ichi, "Yosano Akiko shu kaisetsu," in Nihon kindai bungaku taikei, vol. 17, ed.
Sakamoto Masachika, Moriwaki Kazuo, and Mukawa Chuichi (Kadokawa Shoten, 1971),
9. Akiko herself describes the schooling she received as boring and useless in her 1922
essay "Dokugaku to dokusho" (TYAZ 18:434).
40 CHAPTER TWO
Inevitably, there was not enough time to enjoy this reading. "I
was brought up in a sweetshop wrapping yokan in bamboo leaves,"
she wrote:
I waited for the end of the evening meal and then under the electric
light that went off at twelve midnight, hidden from my parents, I
made use of the short hour or half hour of light to read stealthily the
works of Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu. (14:60-61)
Her parents' disapproval of her reading is mentioned several times in

Akiko's accounts of her childhood.20 Opposition seems to have come
mainly from her mother, "infuriatingly over-anxious about her daugh-
ter who was now of marriageable age."21 Although at least one of
Akiko's accounts specifically mentions both parents' disapproval of
her reading,22 Mori is surely correct to see the principal opposition to
days spent immersed in books as coming from Akiko's mother. Then,
as now, it was the responsibility of the daughter-in-law (yome)—in
this case Akiko's mother—to ensure the survival of the family. Useful
though Akiko undoubtedly was around the shop, it was her younger
brother who would inherit the business; if she should be deemed
unmarriageably bookish, she was a liability. One cannot but be re-
minded of the very similar maternal antagonism encountered by Higu-
chi Ichiyo (1872-1896) as she was growing up.23
Despite her responsibilities in the shop and her mother's dis-
approval, Akiko managed to read vast amounts, as we have seen. In
retrospect, even she was surprised by her youthful voracity. "Think-
ing about it now," she wrote in 1922, "I find it strange that in spite of
my parents' objections I could have read that much when I was young"
(18:433). Although she read from the entire corpus ofJapanese litera-
ture, she was particularly attracted to Murasaki Shikibu's Tale ofGenji:
20. See also Akiko's essays "Kyoshin togo," (1915, TYAZ 14:438); "Dokugaku to dokusho,"
(1922, TYAZ 18:433); and her defense of a woman's right to read in "Dokusho no shukan,"
(1924, TYAZ 19:155-57).
22. Yosano Akiko, "Sei Shonagon no kotodomo," (1911, TYAZ 14:61).
23. See the section from Ichiyo's diary "Chiri no naka," ed. Wada Yoshie, MBZ 30:271. The
passage is translated and discussed in Robert Lyons Danly, In the Shade of Spring Leaves
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1981), 14-15.
From the age of eleven or twelve, Murasaki Shikibu has been my

teacher. I have no idea how many times I read through The Tale of
Genji before I turned twenty. Her writing captivated me that much.
I was entirely self taught; Murasaki Shikibu and I faced one an-
other with no intermediary, just the two of us; and so I feel that I
have had The Tale of Genji from the very mouth of this great woman
of letters. (19:258)
In Meiji Japan there were certainly others, even other young women,
who loved to read as much as Akiko. But did they share this enthusi-
asm for Genji} Let us examine some accounts of the reading enjoyed
by Akiko's female contemporaries.
Miyake Kaho [nee Tanabe Tatsuko] (1868-1943), Higuchi Ichi-
yo's fellow student at Nakajima Utako's (1841-1903) Haginoya po-
etry school,24 and author of the successful shosetsu Yabu no uguisu (War-
bler in the Grove, 1888), recalls her childhood reading thus:
I began reading shosetsu when I was six or seven. Someone from one
of those old circulating libraries would come with a mountainous
load of books on his back for the household retainers, who crowded
into the entrance hall. I became "addicted," as they say, to reading
the books he would leave behind. From weighty tomes like Kanso
gundan, Sangokushi and Hakkenden; to lighter works such as Umegoyomi
or Hizakurige, I raced through them one after the other. I was happy
with anything just so long as it had writing on it. . . .25
Kaho reveals that she for one grew up engrossed in the fiction of the
recent past: the Kanso magai mitate gundan (The Genpei Wars a la
War Tales of Han and Ch'u) is a gokanbon, a series of complexly plot-
ted stories in simple language by Kyokutei [Takizawa] Bakin (1767—
1848), published 1829-31. Sangokushi most likely refers to the Ehon
tsilzoku Sangokushi, published 1836-41, a popular illustrated edition
of the seventeenth-century Japanese translation from Chinese oi San
kuo chih yen-i (The Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Hakkenden is
of course the series of historical adventure stories (yomihon) by Bakin,
Nanso Satomi hakkenden (The Eight Dog-Knights of the Kazusa Sato-
mi), published 1814-42. Shunshoku umegoyomi (Spring Voluptuous-
24. The Haginoya is discussed in Danly, Spring Leaves, esp. 15-16.

25. Miyake Kaho, "Ochanomizu jidai," ed. Shiota Ryohei, MBZ 81:408.
42 CHAPTER TWO
ness: A Plum Blossom Almanac) is a romantic fiction (ninjobon) by

Tamenaga Shunsui (1790-1843), published 1832-33. And Tokaido dochu
hizakurige (Hoofing it Down the Tokaido) is a series of comic adven-
ture stories (kokkeibon) by Jippensha Ikku (1765-1831), published
1802-22.26
Ichiyd is less specific than Kaho, but her account of what she
loved most is clearly a description of Edo fiction rather than earlier
court literature:
From the time that I was six, I used to love storybooks (kusazoshi).
Games of ball and shuttlecock didn't interest me. All I wanted was to
read, and what I loved to read most were stories of the great and the
valorous. Heroic exploits, full of honor and virtue, had quite an ef-
fect on me. I was spellbound by anything brave or spectacular.27
Ichiyo came to Genji when she began studying poetry at the Haginoya,
and thereafter the work became one of the prime influences on her
literary output.28 In this sense she shares Akiko's fondness for Genji.
The ways in which these two young women first read Genji, however,
are markedly different. Left to her own devices, IchiyS had preferred
to read "stories of the great and the valorous," that is, edifying Edo
fiction; she read Genji as part of her lessons in classical poetry at the
Haginoya. For Akiko, on the other hand, Genji was her preferred read-
ing, and she chose to read it long before she had any ideas of writing
poetry.
A glimpse of the reading habits of other women writers, only
slightly older than Akiko, is afforded by a survey entitled "Keishu
shosetsuka no kotae" (Responses From Lady Novelists), which appeared
in five consecutive issues oijogaku zasshi in March and April of 1890.29
26. I am indebted to Markus, Willow in Autumn, for his inspired English translations of the
titles of Hakkenden and Shunshoku umegoyomi.
27. Higuchi Ichiyo, "Chiri no naka," MBZ 30:270. Translation by Danly, Spring Leaves, 12.
28. See Shiota Ryohei, "Koten to Meiji iko no bungaku," in Iwanami koza Nihon bungakushi, ed.
Iwanami Yiijiro (Iwanami Shoten, 1959), vol. 14, part 6:13-14, 28; and It5 Hiroshi, "Genji
monogatari to kindai bungaku," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 48.10 (July 1983): 135-38.
29. Seejogaku zasshi, no. 204 (15 March 1890): 104, for the questions; the replies appear in
no. 205 (22 March 1890): 127-28; no. 206 (29 March 1890): 158-59; no. 207 (5 April
1890): 187-90; no. 208 (12 April 1890): 216; and no. 209 (19 April 1890): 247. I am
indebted to Ochi Haruo's Kindai bungaku no tanjo (Kodansha, 1975), 55-56, for directing
me to this survey.
The magazine surveyed five "women writers prominent in the

world of shosetsu": Koganei Kimi (1871-1956), a regular contributor
to her brother Mori Ogai's Shigarami zoshi;30 "Akebono Joshi" [nee
Kimura Eiko] (1872-90), author of Fujo no kagami (A Mirror for
Womanhood, 1889), the first shosetsu by a woman to be serialized in
the Yomiuri newspaper;31 Wakamatsu Shizuko (1864-96), a writer and
translator now best known for her Japanese version of Frances
Hodgson Burnett's Little Lord Fauntleroy;32 Sasaki Masako, also known
as Chikuhakuen Joshi;33 and Tanabe Tatsuko [Miyake Kaho]. These
women were asked to tell of their experiences as writers; their ideals,
hopes, and theories concerning the shosetsu form; their opinions of
recent shosetsu literature. Their replies form a fascinating document,
worthy of farther study; but it is the answers to question three—"Over
the years, which are the shosetsu you have most enjoyed reading?"—
that are of most direct relevance here.
Of the five, Tanabe—that is, Miyake Kaho, whose favorite
reading has been examined above—is the only one who has nothing
at all to say on the subject of her reading.34 Akebono writes that she
30. Names are as they appear in Jogaku zasshi. Koganei's name appears elsewhere as "Kimiko."
31.1 am grateful to Margaret Mitsutani for sharing her delightful adaptation of Akebono's story
with me. Her version appeared in The Magazine 3.5 (1988): 50-55 and 3.6 (1988): 51-54.
32. Translated as Shokoshi (1890-92). Wakamatsu Shizuko was the pen name of Shimada
Kashiko. She married the editor of Jogaku zasshi, Iwamoto Zenji (1863-1943), in 1889.
33. Pronounced "Nagizono," this was the poetic nom deplume used by waka poet and scholar
of Japanese literature Sasaki Hirotsuna (1828-91), and succeeded to by his son Sasaki
Nobutsuna (1872-1963). The nagi is a tall evergreen tree [Deceusocarpus nagi (Thunb.)
de Laubenf.] found in the warmer regions of Japan. When Nobutsuna founded a poetry
society in 1891 following his father's death, he simply took his father's nom de plume and
used the Sino-Japanese reading of the two characters used to write nagi as its name,
producing "Chikuhaku-kai." In later years he seems to have preferred to pronounce his
own nom de plume "Chikuhakuen," retaining the kanji but departing from the customary
pronunciation of his father. I therefore follow this practice in reading Masako's pen name.
Sasaki Masako is described in Jogaku zasshi as the author of "Mune no omoi," published
in the literary journal Miyako no hana. But according to Professor Sasaki Yukitsuna, present
head of the Sasaki family, there was no one by the name of "Masako" in the family.
Hirotsuna had no female offspring; Nobutsuna was only eighteen years old in 1890 and
as yet unmarried. The name of the woman he eventually married was Yukiko. Professor
Sasaki also detects a "strong scent of Nobutsuna" about the Jogaku zasshi piece and sug-
gests that although "Chikuhakuen Joshi" is not one of Nobutsuna's known styles, there is
a strong possibility that "Masako" is none other than the youthful Nobutsuna playing
the "latter-day Tsurayuki." Conversation, 20 May 1992.
34. "Keishu shosetsuka no kotnz" Jogaku zasshi, no. 209 (19 April 1890): 247.
44 CHAPTER TWO
still has little experience of Western books and finds them difficult;
recently, however, she has read translations of Shakespeare and other
greats and found their detailed depiction of human emotions {ninjo)
most interesting. KySden and Bakin are the only two Japanese au-
thors whose names appear in her reply and there is no mention of
classical Japanese literature.35 Wakamatsu's reply is by far the longest
and her list of (Western) authors impresses. She has read Dickens's
The Old Curiosity Shop and David Copperfield, and Lytton's Zanoni more
than once, and Mrs. [Elizabeth Barrett] Browning's Aurora Leigh again
and again. Of shosetsu in the Japanese language, she has read just three
or four by Bakin (no titles are mentioned); several monogatari (again,
no titles are mentioned); and little of more recent works, although
she mentions three publications from the previous year, 1889, as shose-
tsu she had particularly enjoyed: Hatsukoi by Saganoya Omuro (1863-
1947), Saikun by Tsubouchi Shoyo (1859-1935), and Furyubutsu by
Koda Rohan (1867-1947).36
When we come to the replies of Koganei Kimi and "Sasaki
Masako," however, the picture is a very different one. Both are lovers
of Genji. Koganei writes, "It is none other than a shosetsu of our own
country, The Tale of Genji, which I customarily have by my side and
have read about twenty times." She goes on to list the tales, diaries,
essays and kagamimono of the Japanese classical canon, which, "it goes
without saying" she has read. At one time she was fond of Bakin,
though she does not look at his work now. Her list concludes with the
two works of English literature she has read most carefully: Frances
[Fanny] Burn ey's Evelina and Elizabeth Hamilton's The Cottagers of
Glenburnie?1 For "Masako," Genji is the only reading "she" enjoys
(konomiteyomu wa Genji nomi nite), and in particular "she" rereads the
"Rainy Night Ranking" of women from the 'Hahakigi' chapter, as
well as the 'Wakamurasaki' (Lavender), 'Otome' (The Maiden), and
'Tenarai' (At Writing Practice) chapters.38 Given Professor Sasaki's
35. Ibid., no. 206 (29 March 1890): 158.

36. Ibid., no. 207 (5 April 1890): 189.
37. Ibid., no. 205 (22 March 1890): 128. Given the intimacy with the work that twenty
rereadings must have given her, it is perhaps not surprising that Koganei borrowed the
plot of her 1896 story "Yubi kuitaru onna," from Genji.
38. Ibid., no. 208 (12 April 1890): 216.
comments, and in the absence of further evidence, we must question

the authenticity of this "woman writer's" professed fondness for Genji.
Nobutsuna's little joke can nonetheless be read as his attempt to pro-
nounce upon what a woman should be reading: The Tale of Genji. And
the tally of Akiko's female literary contemporaries of whose reading
we have an account thus yields one avid reader of Genji, three who
preferred literature from the more recent past, and one, Wakamatsu
Shizuko, who read principally Western novels.
Returning for a closer look at the preferences of the men of
the "Shomoku jisshu" surveys, we find that the Genji readers among
them are but a minority within a minority. Seventeen different works
of classical Japanese literature are cited by the twenty-four readers
who include such reading matter on their lists. The most frequently
mentioned work is Heike monogatari, cited nine times, closely followed
by Tsurezuregusa (eight) and then Genji monogatari (seven). Beyond
this, all unanimity of taste disappears: Kokinshu receives four men-
tions, Makura no soshi and Taiheiki three each, and there are single
mentions of such works as Taketori monogatari, Okagami, Shinkokinshu,
and Genpei seisuiki.
Neither is there anything that distinguishes the seven men who
do cite Genji from their fellows. All include works of Chinese litera-
ture in their lists, yet only two, Yamada Bimyd (1868-1910) and the
scholar of law Kdmydji Saburo (1849-93), also list Western books.
Yoda Gakkai (1833-1909), a government official, scholar of Chinese
and writer of new kabuki, and the National Learning scholar Kona-
kamura Kiyonori (1821-95), provide commentaries to their lists, which
reveal something of their individual reading practices. Gakkai reports
that he has always loved Genji:
[I]n the course of reading this work from my youth, I generally
consulted Kogetsusho for help in understanding difficult passages.
If I was unable to understand even then, I simply left it at that: it
is enough that one understands most of it.39
This approach to Genji, haphazard perhaps, but founded on a love for

the work and a trust in an instinctive understanding of the text, closely
39. Tokutomi, "Shomoku jisshu," 6.

46 CHAPTER TWO
resembles Akiko's experience of reading. Konakamura too had always

been fond of Genji, but being a specialist in National Learning
(kokugaku), he "read [Kogetsusho] with particular care, and added [his
own] annotations throughout the fifty-four chapters."40
The response to this survey provided by the only woman to
appear in the series is also illuminating for the breadth of interest it
displays and her curiosity about a world that she could only hope to
explore by reading. The lone female respondent was Shimoda Utako
(1854-1937), a poet, as her name suggests, and founder of educational
institutions for women. Shimoda, preferring to reply discursively, does
not provide a list of her favorite reading matter. The only works actu-
ally referred to in her response are the classics of Chinese history and
philosophy that, deeming herself "shallow in learning and without
talent," she has only skimmed.41 She later began reading Japanese
works, in the course of which she felt the need to acquire some un-
derstanding of Buddhism, which "naturally" led her to India and thence
to the world of Occidental books. After becoming a student of West-
ern studies she found her preferences changing daily, and thus it was
difficult for her to say with any confidence which books were her
favorites.
The reading of these six Meiji literary women and the sixty-
eight men of the "Shomoku jisshu" survey provides at least a sketchy
background against which to view Akiko's accounts of her early read-
ing. As we might expect, her preferences differ markedly from those
of most of her male contemporaries. And her single-minded devotion
to Genji and the Heian classics seems to be shared by only one of the
Jogaku zasshi five, Koganei Kimi. Clearly the evidence is too slight to
draw any firm conclusions about the popularity, or lack thereof, of
Genji among female readers of the Meiji period. It does suggest, how-
ever, that in her choice of reading material, at least, Akiko had good
reason for believing, as she later said, that "the self-education that I
received through reading" was "atypical" (18:434).
In other respects, however, Akiko's childhood reading seems
to mark her as entirely typical of the "modern" reader, as described
40. Ibid., 12.

41. Ibid., 15.
by Maeda Ai. She is not of that earlier generation whose "memories

of reading begin with memories of the voices of family members."42
Nowhere is there any mention of her father or mother reading to her,
or of other family members reading to each other.43 She seems to have
learned to read at primary school. Her silent and solitary reading re-
flects the gradual eclipse of "traditional" readers "for whom virtue
was living according to the norms passed down to them by their par-
ents and teachers" and the rise of "modern" readers "who derived
their sense of values from the printed word, which opened up for them
solitary adventures into unknown worlds."44
What, then, were the effects of this childhood reading? Akiko's

"secret joy" in reading the Japanese classics seems certainly to have
fostered attitudes and values different from those of her merchant-
class family and her provincial home town. "I abhorred the conserva-
tism of my family and my home town," she says, "their hypocrisy,
corruption, ignorance and vulgarity, as well as the melancholy atmo-
sphere I was caughtup in" (13:37-38). The Tale ofGenjiwas an escape
from all this; it also provided Akiko with heroines she could identify
with, fantasies of beautiful lives, and roles of significance. "While my
body was occupied with the busy life of work in the shop," she recalls,
"in my mind I was transformed into a high-born lady from The Tale of
Genji" (13:256):
From the age of twelve I was fond of historical and literary works,
and hidden away from people at home I immersed myself in them,
envious of the pristine dignity of the lives of virgin empresses,
like Amaterasu Omikami. I was drawn, too, to the vestals of the
Ise and the Kamo shrines. Despite the grim reality that I faced, I
regarded my future in vastly different terms, as something beauti-
ful and ideal. I wanted to live my whole life as an unsullied virgin,
like an angel. Such were my feelings then, I can see in retrospect.
There was also something grown up about the way I felt. Partly
that was because I managed the shop more or less by myself, help-
42. Maeda Ai, Kindai dokusha no seiritsu (Yuseido, 1973), 127.

43. In her 1916 story "Watakushi no mita sh5jo: Minami-san," in Watakushi no oidachi, 111,
Akiko recalls that it was rare for her father to speak to her even three times in a month.
44. Maeda, Kindai dokusha, 126. Analogous developments in Western reading practices are
discussed in Alberto Manguel, A History of Reading (London: HarperCollins, 1996), es-
pecially the chapter "Learning to Read," 67-83.
48 CHAPTER TWO
ing my sickly mother in place of my irresponsible father; but it

also seems to have been because I came to understand human na-
ture early in life, through my intimacy with historical and literary
works. In the midst of this busy life, I developed a degree of men-
tal leeway that allowed me to look down on it all a bit.
And so, grown up as I was, from about the age of twelve I was
able to imagine what it was like to be in love, thanks to those
works of literature. There were times when I would smile to my-
self, comparing myself with various of the women in The Tale of
Genji. But whatever feelings of like or dislike for the opposite sex
I might have had, in reality I had no opportunity to experience
any that could be called love until I was twenty-three years old. I
always felt that all of the men and women around me were impure;
and so I felt close only to men and women in books. (14:374-75)
Akiko's letters from this period reveal even more vividly the
strength of her identification with characters from Genji. In January
1900 she began corresponding with Kono Tetsunan (1874-1940), son
of a priest at a nearby temple in Sakai.45 In a letter dated 5 April 1900
she writes indignantly:
Even reading such things as Genji, well, people like Murasaki I

can accept, but I simply can't work up much sympathy for those
beautiful women of no great rank like Yugao and Akashi. And even
when reading about them in books, men who are cruel to women
are hateful, hateful, I can't bear them. Isn't it just detestable how,
when he leaves someone who means as much to him as Murasaki
in the capital crying, and then is recalled to the capital from Akashi,
he writes "I lament no less than when I left the capital in spring"!46
In another letter Kono apparently asked her which of the

women in Genji she felt the greatest affinity for. Her reply:
45. Tetsunan is one of several men of Akiko's acquaintance who has been suggested as the
subject of her early "michi o toku kimi" poem (TYAZ 1:6), cited in the introduction, p. 7.
Kubo Kazuko lists the competing candidates in "Yosano Akiko: nazo," Kokubungaku:
kaishaku to kyozai no kenkyu 31.11 (September 1986): 133.
46. Quoted in Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari," 251. In her letter, Akiko quotes
only the upper hemistich of Genji's poem to the Akashi Nyiido in the 'Akashi' chapter:
Toshi ideshi haru no nageki ni otorameya
toshifuru ura o wakarenuru aki. (2:259; S 268)
I lament no less than when I left the capital in spring,
parting in autumn from these shores where years have passed.
More even than the peerless Murasaki, I envy Qigimi of Uji. To

make one such as Kaoru cry that much, to be desired that much,
and then to die so soon and be endlessly longed for, if only I could
be loved like that—that is how I feel.47
Her fervor, her (at least imagined) desire to suffer for the sake of ro-
mance, is perhaps most reminiscent of the Sarashina diarist, who, in
her early fifties, looked back at her youth and recalled that "[i]n those
days most people began to read the sutras and to perform religious
devotions at age sixteen or seventeen, but such things did not in the
least interest me":
All that I could manage to think of was how I might live hidden
away in the mountains like Ukifune. And there would be some
very noble and handsome gentleman, like Genji in the novel, who
would call upon me perhaps once in a year. In my loneliness I
would gaze out upon the cherry blossoms, the autumn leaves, the
moon, or the snow, while I waited for one of his charming letters.48
In these early days Akiko seems to have been content to live

out her fantasies in poetry-writing. As Kumasaka Atsuko has suggested,
"[a]t the outset, Akiko's poems did not spring from the actual experi-
ence of life; she wrote of the world of the emotions by drawing upon
desires and fantasies that had their origin in her reading."49 Akiko
herself admits as much. In a later account of her awakening to the
possibilities of poetry, she states that although she was first moved to
compose when she chanced upon some tanka by Tekkan in the Yomiuri
newspaper one year, her initial subject matter was drawn from her
fantasies and imaginings:
Until I was twenty, I never thought about composing poetry. From

the age of about ten, in my secret reading at home of various his-
47. Letter dated 15 March 1900. Quoted in Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari," 251;
fuller text in Itsumi Kumi, "Yosano Akiko no Genji monogatari kogoyaku ni tsuite,"
Kokugakuin zasshi 94.1 (January 1993): 15-16.
48. Translation by T. J. Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism of the Genji monogatari'. A
Study of the Background and Critical Content of his Genji monogatari Tama no ogushi"
(Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1971), 35. Japanese text inNKBZ 18:317.
49. Kumasaka Atsuko, "Yosano Akiko," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 37.10 (August 1972):
117.
50 CHAPTER TWO
torical and literary works, I had read collections of haiku and waka>
but I didn't like the finicky rules of decorum and the secret teach-
ings that seemed to be involved. I thought that their content was
inferior to that of Chinese poetry and they seemed to me to be of
no particular significance; I regarded them with indifference. Then
one year (about Meiji 30 [1897]), in spring, by chance I saw some
poetry by my present husband in the Yomiuri newspaper.50 There
were a number of poems like the following one:
Haru asaki Dokanyama no hitotsu chaya ni

mochi ku shosei hakama tsuketari.
Early spring: at a tea-house in Dokanyama, a student,
wearing hakama, chews on sticky rice cakes.
. . . Looking at these poems, I thought that, if it would suffice to

compose with such easy frankness, unconcerned with the orna-
ments of form, then I too could compose poetry. And so two or
three years passed. In the autumn of Meiji 32 [1899] Yosano formed
the Shinshisha (New Poetry Society);51 at the opportunity pro-
vided by this new movement for tanka reform, I suddenly felt a
desire to create and I sent some drafts of poems to the Society.
At that time, in order to escape the gloomy atmosphere of
home, I drew hints from the various reading I have mentioned
and from the beautiful scenery and ways of the Kinai area. I was
immersed in ideals and fantasies of my own construction; having
lived a life full of yearning, I dashed off poetry expressing the feel-
ings that rose from my ideals and fantasies, exactly as suggested to
me by Yosano's poetry. (13:31-32)
Akiko's account of her initial urge to write poetry is clearly

romanticized, for we know that she had been publishing both new-
style poetry and tanka in various local literary magazines long before
she sent her first batch of poems to Myojo.52 Nonetheless, the publi-
cation of her poems in Myojo and subsequent meeting with Tekkan
were turning points in her life. At last, longing could become reality:
As time wore on, I could no longer be satisfied by the fantasy world
of books. I came to want to be a completely free individual. Then,
by an uncanny coincidence of opportunity, at the same time as I
50. The poems to which Akiko refers were actually published in Yomiuri shinbun, 10 April
1898. Itsumi Kumi, Hydden Yosano Tekkan Akiko (Yagi Shoten, 1975), 570.
51. The Shinshisha was formed on 3 November 1899. Itsumi, Hydden, 572.
52. Akiko's poems, collected under the title "Hanagatami," appear inMybjo, no. 2 (May 1900): 11.
screwed up my courage and won the freedom of love, I was able to

escape from the cage of my old-fashioned family where my indi-
viduality had long been confined. Moreover, at the same time I
was miraculously able to turn my thoughts into poems in my own
words. At a single stroke, I achieved three important freedoms,
those of love (ren'ai), morality (rinri), and art (geijutsu). (14:438)
Many have seen Akiko's flight from Sakai to Tokyo as an ar-

chetypal gesture of modernity. Certainly running away from a com-
fortable if constricting merchant-class family to live in poverty with
her lover required courage. But mere "modernity"? Might not Akiko's
elopement also be seen as the enactment of fantasies that had their
origin in her reading of Genji}
In a letter to Tekkan written less than a month before her elope-
ment, she explicitly identifies him as her "Genji," and herself as a
Genji heroine. As we shall see in chapter six, this fantasy, arising from
her childhood reading, survived years of privation, the birth of thir-
teen children, her own fame and her husband's philandering—and for
all we know may never have been abandoned.
Chapter Three:
The Tale ofGenji in the Meiji Period
Bunshd wa keikoku no taigyo, fukyu no seiji.

Literature: a vital force in the ordering of the state,
a glorious achievement that never grows old. 1
Wei Wen-ti, "T'ien lun"
Somosomo, Gengo wa kokka mujo no shiho toshite bankoku ni hokoru

ni tarubeki mono nari.
The Tale ofGenji, then, is the unrivaled treasure of our nation and,
as such, something worth boasting about to all the nations of the
world.
Sassa Seisetsu, Shinshaku Genji monogatari (1911)
By the end of the century, while Akiko was still spinning the
fantasies of which she would later weave large portions of her life,
both professional and domestic, The Tale ofGenji was generating quite
another sort of interest among the literati of mid-Meiji. These were
the writers, scholars, and educators who looked to Genji as a new "cul-
tural scripture" of the "new Japan" they were so earnestly attempting
to build. They were also the pillars of the literary world in which
Akiko was to make her debut as a translator of Genji. If we are to
appreciate fully the nature and impact of her first major published
work on Genji, we must first examine the attitudes and accomplish-
ments of her senior colleagues in this endeavor.
The first modern Japanese translation of The Tale of Genji,

Akiko's four-volume Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, was published by
1. Wen hsiian 52, translation by Burton Watson, Early Chinese Literature (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1962), epigraph facing title page.
52
THE TALE OF GENJI IN THE MEIJI PERIOD 53
Kanao Bun'end5 in 1912 and 1913.2 It was an immediate commercial

success with the rapidly expanding reading public and the object of
extravagant praise from some of the most eminent members of the
literary establishment, Mori Ogai and Ueda Bin (1874-1916) among
them. Laudatory reviews, unfortunately anonymous, abounded in
major newspapers and literary journals.3 To some extent this unprec-
edented enthusiasm for a translation of Genji can be explained by the
talent, learning, and dedication that Akiko herself brought to the task.
Yet in the company of other literary landmarks of the same years—
Nagai Kafu's translations of French symbolist poetry, Arishima Takeo's
"Glimpse of a Certain Woman," the first Japanese performances of
Ibsen's "A Doll's House" and "The Wild Duck"—the translation of
an eleventh-century classic seems somehow out of place, out of date.4
For Ueda Bin, however, Akiko's Shin'yaku was no anomaly: it
was the work of "the right person at the right time."5 Ogai, too, opined
that no one was better suited to the task of translating Genji than
Akiko, and claimed that he had long felt a need for a modern transla-
tion of Genji.6 That Akiko should be seen as the "right person" seems
explicable; and as we shall see in the next chapter, her knowledge of
Genji and her willingness to elucidate it for others were well known
to Bin and Ogai. But what was it about the time—1912—that made
the publication of the Shin'yaku seem so "right," so "desirable," to
these two pillars of the Meiji literary establishment? I would suggest
that the commercial and critical success of this translated classic in an
2. Here I use the terms "modern Japanese" and "modern colloquial" interchangeably as trans-
lations of Japanese gendaigo, in contradistinction to "literary," "classical," or "ancient"
(bungo, kotengo, or kogo) Japanese. According to the list of translations and versions (yakubun
hon'an) in Fujita Tokutaro, Genji monogatari kenkyu shomoku yoran (Rokubunkan, 1932),
88-95, there were at least three attempts at complete translations of The Tale of Genji in
the Edo period. Only one achieved partial publication in a woodblock edition, however,
and most of the other manuscripts seem since to have been lost. Fujita himself hails
Akiko's translation as "the first complete translation into the modern colloquial" (p. 93)
and I follow him in this designation here.
3. The critical reception of the Shin'yaku will be discussed in chapter four.
4. Nagai Kafu, Sangoshu (Coral Collection, 1913). Arishima Takeo, "Aru onna no gurinpusu,"
serialized in Shirakaba between January 1911 and March 1913. "A Doll's House" and
"The Wild Duck" were first performed in September 1911 and May 1913, respectively.
5. Ueda Bin, untitled preface to Yosano Akiko, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari (Kanao Bun'endo,
1912), 1:1.
6. Mori Rintaro [Ogai], untitled preface in ibid., 1:2-4.
54 CHAPTER THREE
age of "new-style poetry" {shintaishi), "new drama" (shingeki) and the

novel {shosetsu) alerts us to a little-noticed aspect of the national iden-
tity-building project then underway in Japan; and this in turn sug-
gests that the success of Akiko's Shin'yaku is the result not only of the
gifts of its author but also of the political uses to which The Tale of
Genji was put in the latter half of the Meiji period.
The process is complex but the broad outlines are clearly dis-
cernible. We see the Meiji descendants of Edo period scholars of Na-
tional Learning returning the text of Genji to circulation; establish-
ing institutions to train a new generation of custodians of the canon;
articulating the principles of their project; and attempting, through
translation, to transform Genji into an instrument for the edification
of the new mass readership of the new Japan.
In 1890, after a hiatus of almost two hundred years, there was

a sudden rush of reprints of The Tale of Genji: three complete movable
type editions appeared in 1890-91, with a further two following in
1903-6 and 1909-10.7 Moreover, most of the ancillary aids to the read-
ing of Genji that appeared in the Meiji period were published after
this 1890 watershed. There were digests in the style of the popular
Edo period genre.8 There were translations of famous passages into
simple literary Japanese,9 into kanbun, and even into the twelve syl-
lable lines ofshintaishi.10 For female students, there were readers (toku-
hon) containing selections from the early chapters of Genji with com-
7. Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan, ed., Meiji-ki kanko tosho mokuroku: Kokuritsu Kokkai Toshokan
shozo, 6 vols. (Kokkai Toshokan, 1971-76) lists these editions as: Hagino Yoshiyuki, Ochiai
Naobumi, and Konakamura Yoshikata, eds., Nihon bungaku zensho, vols. 8-12 (Hakubun-
kan, 1890-91); Oda Sugao and Shikada Genzo, eds., Kosei hochu kokubun zensho, vols. 1-
8 (Osaka: Kokubunkan, 1890-91); Inokuma Natsuki, ed., Teisei zochu Genji monogatari
Kogetsusho, 5 vols. (Osaka: Tosho Shuppan, 1890-91); Maruoka Katsura and Matsushita
Daizaburo, eds., Kokubun taikan, vols. 1-2 (Itakuraya, 1903-6); and Motoori Toyokai and
Furuya Chishin, eds., Kokumin bunko, 1st ser., vols. 7-8 (Kokumin Bunko Kankokai, 1909-
ID.
8. Cho Tsuratsune, Genji monogatari' kogai (Shinchosha, 1906); OnoeTorako, Genji monogatari
taVi (Daidokan, 1911).
9. Masuda Yukinobu, Shinpen shishi, 10 vols. (various publishers, 1888-1904); Shimono Enk5,
Ese Genji (Keigyosha, 1892).
10. Into kanbun: Kawai Jiro, Shishi (Jinrian, 1893); into shintaishi: Mizoguchi Hakuyo, Katei
shinshi Genji monogatari (Okamura Shoten, Fukuoka Shoten, 1906).
THE TALE OF GENJIINTHEMEIJI PERIOD 55
mentary and notes in an easy classical style.11 Articles about Genji and
Murasaki Shikibu began to appear frequently in women's magazines.12
And transcripts of lectures on Genji seem to have been enthusiasti-
cally received by young provincials with aspirations to culture.13
Since Akiko was only eleven or twelve years old when she be-
gan reading The Tale of Genji—in 1888-89, just prior to the water-
shed—the text she first encountered must have been a woodblock
printed edition from the Edo period, most likely a copy of the Kogetsu-
sho. Soon thereafter she was also reading it in modern movable type.
As she writes in 1922:
I borrowed old woodblock printed editions (kohanpon) of works
from the Heian and other periods from friends, and I also bought
Hakubunkan editions (Hakubunkanbon) as well as other Meiji mov-
able type editions (shinpan) and read those too. (18:433)
How, then, are we to account for this spate of new editions of Genji
that suddenly made the text so much more accessible, not only to
Akiko but to the entire reading public? Why did so many scholars
suddenly decide to expend so much energy editing, explicating, and
otherwise attempting to rescue Genji from obscurity? It is to the au-
thors and editors of these works that we must turn for answers.
It is a commonplace of Japanese literary history that the third

decade of the Meiji period (that is, from 1887-96) is one of conserva-
tive reaction to Westernization.14 To some scholars this tendency alone
11. Suzuki Hiroyasu, Jogakko yd tokubon: Genji monogatari bassui, 5 vols. (Chugaido, 1888);
Owada Tateki, Genji tokubon, 2 vols. (Uehara Shobo, 1901).
12. The most complete list of Meiji period journal articles about Murasaki Shikibu and The
Tale of Genji is, so far as I know, Sakurai Yuzo, "Genji monogatari kenkyu bunken moku-
roku—zasshi kankei—," Kokugo to kokubungaku, no. 390 (October 1956): 164-66. Pages
166-87 continue the listing through 1955.
13. Mitani Kuniaki, "Meiji-ki no Genji monogatari kenkyu," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho
48.10 Quly 1983): 53. Published lecture notes include Suzuki Hiroyasu, Genji monogatari
kogi, 9 vols. (Chugaido, 1884-88); and lida Takesato, "Genji monogatari," Kokugo kogiroku,
vol. ha (no publisher indicated, 1890).
14. See Donald H. Shively, "The Japanization of the Middle Meiji," in Tradition and Modern-
ization in Japanese Culture, ed. Donald H. Shively (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
1971), 77-119, for an overview of the "nativistic reaction to Japanese 'Westernization'"
(117). Ikari Akira, Ken'yusha no bungaku (Hanawa Shob5, 1961), 13-17, showed more
than thirty-five years ago how various was the response to the first twenty years of
"Westernization."
56 CHAPTER THREE
has seemed a sufficient explanation of the concurrent renewal of in-

terest in classical Japanese literature. But a "public reaction to the
excesses of Japan's Westernizing policies"15 hardly suffices to explain
the successive publication of five complete new editions of Genji after
a hiatus of two centuries. The motivation for this sudden surge of
reprints lies, I think, in a less conspicuous but more complex aspect
of the modernization process. Carol Gluck aptly describes this as an
"ideological momentum" which gathered force in the 1880s:
[An] outburst of nation-mindedness [which] included explorations
of national character, reassertions of indigenous ways, and pro-
jections of Japan into the world order as the nineteenth-century
West defined it. Invocations of nation included, more and more
pressingly, the effort to draw all the people into the state, to have
them thinking national thoughts, to make kokumin of them, new
Japanese for what was called "the new Japan."16
To scholars of Japanese literature, heirs to a seemingly mori-

bund tradition of Edo-period National Learning, this atmosphere of
"nation-mindedness" offered a chance to make their literature—and
in particular The Tale of Genji—a "vital force in the ordering of the
state." In the classical canon they would find the source of the na-
tional (and self) identity they needed to ensure for themselves and
their scholarship a place of prominence, perhaps even influence, in
"the new Japan." In The Tale of Genji they would find both the guid-
ance needed to make a kokumin of their people, and the "projection of
Japan" they would present to the world. Their Genji would become a
"treasure" not only of the nation Japan, but of the whole world. Be-
fore Genji could be put to these new tasks, however, not only the text
but also the now depleted supply of scholars would have to be saved
from oblivion.
Concern on the part of several scholars about the possible
extinction of the National Learning tradition led to the establishment,
in 1882, of a Koten koshu-ka (Classics Training Course) in the Faculty
15. Michael C. Brownstein, "From Kokugaku to Kokubungaku: Canon-Formation in the Meiji

Period," Harvard Journal ofAsiatic Studies 47.2 (December 1987): 436.
16. Carol Gluck, Japans Modern Myths: Ideology in the Late Meiji Period (Princeton: Princeton
University Press, 1985), 23.
THE TALE OF GENJIINTHEMEIJI PERIOD 57
of Letters at Tokyo University.17 From the vantage point of the present,

when the discipline of "National Literature" (kokubungaku) is such a
well-established part not only of Japanese academic life but also the
cultural life of the nation, it might seem that it should have been a
simple matter for National Learning scholars of the Edo period to
find and train their Meiji disciples. This evidently was not the case.
Wada Hidematsu (1865-1937) recalls that in his year, 1884, the num-
ber of dropouts from the Classics Training Course was so high that a
second intake of students was necessary:
[I]t seemed to be because the nature of a Department of National

Books was not generally well understood. I have heard that my
relatives often asked, "What on earth can Hidematsu be intend-
ing to do, studying such a thing as kokugaku} Surely he doesn't
intend to become a Shinto priest?" It was a period when kokugaku
was in decline, and so such doubts were inevitable.18
Although for budgetary and other reasons the Classics Train-

ing Course was abolished after only six years, its name is instructive.
Koten in Chinese usage meant ancient precedent, ceremony, or text.
Motoori Norinaga had used this combination of characters, glossed
inishiebumi (old texts), in his Tamakatsuma. In Kojikiden, he glossed
17. In March 1886 "Tokyo Daigaku" was renamed "Teikoku Daigaku." A farther adjustment
of nomenclature in June 1897 resulted in "Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku." For the sake of
clarity I refer to the institution as Tokyo University throughout.
The basic source of information on the Koten koshu-ka is Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku
gojunenshi (Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku, 1932), 1:721-47. My discussion is also based on the
following sources: Sasaki Nobutsuna, "Kotenka jidai no omoide," and Wada Hidematsu,
"Koten koshuka jidai," both in Kokugo to kokubungaku 11.8 (August 1934): 23-31 and 32-
39, respectively; the 'Koten fukko' section of Shiota Ryohei, "Koten to Meiji iko no
bungaku," inIwanami koza Nihon bungakushi, ed. Iwanami Yujiro (Iwanami Shoten, 1959),
14:3-5; the 'Meiji shinkokugaku undo e no tenbo' section of Haga Noboru, "Bakumatsu
henkakki ni okeru kokugakusha no undo to ronri," Nihon shiso taikei, vol. 51, ed. Haga
Noboru and Matsumoto Sannosuke (Iwanami Shoten, 1971), 707—14; Tokyo Daigaku
hyakunenshi Henshu linkai, ed., Tokyo Daigaku hyakunenshi: bukyokushi (Tokyo Daigaku
Shuppankai, 1986), 1:712-16; and Brownstein, "From Kokugaku to Kokubungaku" 436-
38. "Classics Training Course" is Brownstein's translation of Koten koshu-ka.
18. Wada, "Koten koshuka jidai," 35. In 1884, the Koten koshu-ka was divided into a Depart-
ment of National Books (Kokushoka) and a Department of Chinese Books (Kanshoka). See
Tokyo Teikoku Daigaku gojunenshi, 1:733-36, on the establishment of the Chinese section.
58 CHAPTER THREE
the same characters furukifumi (ancient texts).19 Then in the Meiji

period the word was exhumed and its meaning extended to translate
the word "classics," on the model of the Greek and Roman classics.20
Thus the compound at least, if not the reading, had blue-blooded
National Learning lineage that underlined the ideological respect-
ability of the Classics Training Course and at the same time implied
an equivalence between Japanese literature and the classics of the West.
And the very name of the course indicates that this new use of koten
had achieved currency at least by the second decade of the Meiji
period.
What then were the classics at this time? Shiota Ryohei offers
the following list:
At that time koten meant the Kojiki, the Nihongi, the Man'yoshu,
the first eight Imperial anthologies of poetry, Taketori, he, Utsuho,
Kagero, and the Heian period tales, diaries, and essays which fol-
lowed [these], down to Tsurezuregusa. Anything after that did not
count as a classic, but was [simply] literature of the previous age.
With their strongly medieval cast, Basho's haikai and haibun were
treated as pure koten; but Saikaku, Akinari, and the like were re-
garded merely as distant antecedents of contemporary literature.21
The curriculum of the Classics Training Course seems to have corre-

sponded closely to the canon described above. In addition to literary
classics, however, works studied in the course spanned the whole range
of the National Learning project to include texts on Japanese lan-
guage, ancient court and military practices (yusokukojitsu), and his-
tory. Wada remembers lectures on the Kojiki and the Nihongi as well
19. For inishiebumi, see Motoori Norinaga zenshu, vol. 1, ed. Okubo Tadashi (Chikuma Shobo,
1968), 87. Tamakatsuma consists of a series of essays composed between 1793 and
Norinaga's death in 1801, and published serially between 1794 and 1812. ¥ or furukifumi,
see Motoori Norinaga zenshu, vol. 9, ed. Ono Susumu, 62.
20. See Morohashi Tetsuji, Daikanwa jiten (Taishukan Shoten, 1955), 2:735 and Shinmura
Izuru, ed., Kojien, 3rd ed. (Iwanami Shoten, 1983), 881. The earliest example of the use
of koten to mean "classics," cited in Nihon kokugo daijiten (Shogakukan, 1974), 8:260, is
from Shimazaki Toson's Rakubaishii (Fallen Plum Blossom Collection, 1901). In the sec-
tion "Suiyobi no sobetsu" (Wednesday Parting, 1898) he writes "kimi wa haya koten no
arakata o mo osameowaritsu" (you had already mastered most of the classics). It is clear,
however, that koten had meant "classics" for some time prior to Toson's use of the word.
21. Shiota, "Koten to Meiji iko no bungaku," 5.
as other early histories; the Manyyoshu\ Genji, Eiga, and Utsuho monoga-
tari; the Okagami, Imakagami, Masukagami and Azumakagamv, and
works on the Japanese language such as Norinaga's Kotoba no tama no
o(1779).22
In 1882, the year that the Classics Training Course began ac-
cepting students, another similarly named institution, the Koten kokyil-
sho (Institute for the Study of Imperial Classics), opened its doors.23
The Institute was part and parcel of the government's attempts to
propagate a version of Shinto that would aid the achievement of na-
tional unity. Accordingly, a course for the training of Shinto priests
was established and a system of examinations for Shinto functionaries
inaugurated. Whereas the Classics Training Course had been founded
to arrest a perceived decline in National Learning scholarship, the
need for an Institute for the Study of Imperial Classics was felt by
politicians who were alarmed at the fervor of the People's Rights
movement and by the agitation for a constitution. The decree estab-
lishing the Institute promulgated by its first president, Prince Arisu-
gawa (1812-1886), defined the purpose of study at the Institute as the
"clarification of the national polity (kokutai) in order to strengthen
the foundations of the state."24 Despite differing emphases, there were
some connections between the two institutions. In 1888, for example,
a former student of the Classics Training Course, Ochiai Naobumi
(1861-1903), began teaching at the Institute for the Study of Impe-
rial Classics. He later joined the staff of Kokugakuin, where he edited
the renowned Kotoba no izumi dictionary, published in 1901. The si-
multaneous establishment in 1882 of the Classics Training Course
and the Institute for the Study of Imperial Classics, the similarity of
22. Wada, "Koten koshuka jidai," 36-37.

23. The Institute for the Study of Imperial Classics gave rise to, but was not replaced by,
Kokugakuin (Academy of National Learning), established in 1890. In 1906 the Academy
became a university with the name Kokugakuin Daigaku. The Institute continued its
activities until 25 January 1946 when it was dissolved by the Allied Occupation authori-
ties. See Fujii Sadafumi, "Koten Kdkyusho," in Kokushi Daijiten Henshu linkai, ed., Kokushi
daijiten (Yoshikawa Kobunkan, 1985), 5:459, upon which my discussion is based. In
Daikanwa jiten, 8:79, koten is defined as "Kokoku no tenseki. Waga kuni no koten" (The
imperial canon. The classical literary canon of our nation). No Chinese source for the
compound is given; it is clearly a Japanese construction.
24. Cited in Kokushi daijiten, 5:459.
60 CHAPTER THREE
their missions, and the congruence of scholarly interest and political

purpose suggest that this was one of those moments in history when
conservative scholars and politicians alike were in agreement as to
what the goals of the nation should be and how they might be attained.
Short-lived though the Classics Training Course was, its stu-
dents were to produce the first series of "complete works" of Japa-
nese literature, thus ratifying for the Meiji period the classical canon
of their Edo-period forebears. This was the influential Nihon bungaku
zensho, published by Hakubunkan in twenty-four volumes from 1890
to 1892 and edited by Hagino Yoshiyuki (1860-1924), Ochiai Nao-
bumi, and Konakamura Yoshikata (1864-1923), the adopted son of
one of the mainstays of the Classics Training Course, Konakamura
Kiyonori.25 With a degree of hindsight, all commentators agree that
these former students of the Course (Ochiai for one left before he
could graduate), with their colleagues from the Department of Japa-
nese Literature,26 were Japan's first scholars of National Literature
(kokubungakusha). Thirty years into the Meiji period, a new genera-
tion of scholars of the classical canon had been recruited, trained, and
employed; and a new discipline had been created. National Learning
scholar Konakamura Kiyonori, adoptive father of one and teacher of
all three of the editors, officially bestowed his approval on one of the
first products of the new discipline by contributing the opening pref-
ace to the Nihon bungaku zensho.
The Nihon bungaku zensho provided the Meiji reading public
with some of the first complete texts of the classics to be printed in
movable type. Shiota ascribes the success of the series to its affordabil-
ity (initially twenty-five sen per volume at a time when a month's sub-
25. In 1897, Konakamura Yoshikata decided to revert to using the name of the family he was
born to, Ikebe. Thus his family name appears as Konakamura in work published before
that date, and as Ikebe in subsequent publications. Konakamura Kiyonori was a disciple
ofMotoori Uchito (1792-1855), who was himself the adopted son, ofMotoori Norinaga's
adopted son, Motoori Ohira (1756-1833).
26. A department of Japanese and Chinese literature (Wakan bungaku-ka) was part of the Fac-
ulty of Letters when Tokyo University was founded in 1877; the dearth of students in the
department was one factor in the establishment of the Koten koshu-ka in 1882. When the
two components of the Wakan bungaku-ka were separated in 1885, with students being
required to choose a major in either Japanese or Chinese after a combined course in their
first year, the Koten koshu-ka perhaps came to seem superfluous, and this may have been
another reason for the termination of the course in 1888.
scrip tion to the Asahi shinbun cost twenty-eight sen and ten kilograms
of rice was selling for approximately fifty sen),11 convenient size, and
the ease of reading movable type as compared with manuscripts or
woodblock printed texts. Many Meiji period writers first encountered
the Japanese classics in the form of the Hakubunkan series: Ozaki
Koyo (1867-1903), Kunikida Doppo (1871-1908), and Higuchi Ichiyo
were among them. It was apparently this series, too, that revealed to
ordinary Tokyoites the existence of a Genji other than Tanehiko's pa-
rodic Nise murasaki inaka Genji.2S
The twenty-four volumes of the Nihon bungaku zensho con-
sisted largely of Heian period literature, five volumes of which were
devoted to The Tale of Genji. In their preface to the first volume, the
editors explain the purpose of their publishing venture as follows:
Books of old literature are scarce, difficult to obtain, and even the
rare volume that comes to light is full of errors and not easy to
understand. The reason we publish this series now is to make these
books more easily obtainable, more easily readable, and to dem-
onstrate the excellence of the national literature, which stands head
and shoulders above Chinese and Western literature in a class by
itself.29
They will rescue the canon from neglect, and the canon will show the
nation what makes Japan great and what makes it unique.
Scholars of National Literature were not the only participants
in this project. Another group, termed by Gluck "minkan national-
ists" and including men such as Kuga Katsunan (1857-1907), Shiga
Shigetaka (1863-1927), and Yamaji Aizan (1864-1917), also felt that
a recognition of past achievements could serve as a bulwark against
the dilution of Japan's distinctive national character (kokuminsei).30 In
his influential essay of 1891 entitled Shin-zen-bi Nihonjin (The Japa-
nese and Truth, Goodness, and Beauty), one such minkan nationalist,
27. These figures are taken from Nedan-shi nenpyo: Meiji, Taisho, Showa, ed. Shukan Asahi
(Asahi Shinbunsha, 1988).
28. Both of these points are made by Shiota, "Koten to Meiji iko no bungaku," 4, and Hisamatsu
Sen'ichi, Nihon bungaku kenkyushi (Yamada Shoin, 1957), 75.
29. "Hanrei," (Introductory Notes) in Hagino et al., Nihon bungaku zensho, 1:1.
30. Gluck, Japan's Modern Myths, 112-14.
62 CHAPTER THREE
Miyake Setsurei (1860-1945), offered a justification for the preserva-

tion and development of Japanese culture. The essay has been much
discussed by scholars of the period;31 it is of interest here as an ex-
ample of the way in which The Tale of'Genjiwas beginning to be called
upon to serve national ends. Having praised Bakin for his prodigious
output, Miyake continues:
Moreover, when we turn our gaze to female writers, the fifty [sic]
chapters of Genji produced by Murasaki Shikibu [depicting] a su-
perior and extraordinary elegance which briefly flowered at a time
when only a fraction of the country—the Kinki region and areas
to the west—was within the reach of civilization: the existence of
a work such as this must be attributed to her truly astonishing
intellectual power. Although I am not suggesting that in other
countries there is a dearth of great works by talented women writ-
ers, just how many could be ranked with Shikibu?32
Nationalists like Miyake saw a direct link between pride in native ge-
nius of the past and a national strength that would allow "indepen-
dence in the commerce among nations,"33 namely the revision of the
Ansei unequal treaties of 1858. Repealed article by article over a pe-
riod of more than thirty years of intense diplomatic effort, complete
rescission of the treaties was not finally accomplished until 1911.
In this context it is significant that the first English version of
The Tale of Genji—a partial translation published in London by Triibner
& Co. in 1882—was by none other than Suematsu Kencho (1855-
1920), attache to the Japanese legation in England and student at the
University of Cambridge.34 As author of a series of "informal reports
on British and European politics"35 for I to Hirobumi (1841-1909),
Suematsu was keenly aware of Western attitudes toward Japan and
the importance of a coordinated approach to the task of treaty revision.
31. See Kenneth B. Pyle, The New Generation in Meiji Japan: Problems of Cultural Identity,
1885-1895 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1969), 150-56; and Shively, "The
Japanization of the Middle Meiji," 103-4.
32. Gendai Nihon bungaku zenshu (Kaizosha, 1931), 5:221.
3 3. Gluck, Japan s Modern Myths, 114.
34. Margaret Mehl, "Suematsu Kencho in Britain, 1878-1886," Japan Forum S.2 (October
1993): 173-93.
35. Ibid., 177.
In his introduction to the translation, Suematsu accordingly main-

tained that his purpose was:
not so much to amuse my readers as to present them with a study

of human nature, and to give them information on the history of
the social and political condition of my native country nearly a
thousand years ago. They will be able to compare it with the con-
dition of mediaeval and modern Europe.36
By subtly reminding his Victorian readers that Murasaki Shikibu had

produced The Tale of Genji at a time when Anglo-Saxons were still, as
Virginia Woolf was later to remark, "squatting in their huts,"37
Suematsu provided further evidence in support of Japan's claim for
equal treatment.
Suematsu's translation also suggests the direction that Meiji
scholars of Japanese literature were to take. As we have seen, the new
scholars of National Literature conceived of themselves as "custodi-
ans of a tradition of scholarship, a body of texts, and 'Japaneseness.'"38
This conception of their mission also implied a new mission for a
prime object of their energies, The Tale of Genji.
This new generation of scholars was quick to see that if Genji

was to function as the cultural scripture they meant it to be, it had to
be made accessible to a much larger reading public than it had ever
reached before. The digests, readers, and lectures noted above might
contribute to the cause, but the best way to take the text itself to the
people was through translation. Curiously, however, the only attempt
to produce a modern colloquial version of The Tale of Genji that pre-
dates Akiko's Shindyaku was the first volume of the Shinshaku Genji
monogatari (A New Exegesis of The Tale of Genji), published in 1911.
This edition printed the text of Genji together with commentary and
a modern Japanese translation. Volume one contained the eight chap-
36. Suematsu Kencho, Genji Monogatari (1882; reprint, Rutland, Vt. and Tokyo: Charles E.
Tuttle, 1974), 17.
37. Virginia Woolf, "The Tale of Genji: The First Volume of Mr Arthur Waley's Translation
of a Great Japanese Novel by the Lady Murasaki," Vogue 66.2 (1925): 53.
38. Brownstein, "From Kokugaku to Kokubungaku," 438.
64 CHAPTER THREE
ters from 'Kiritsubo' (The Paulownia Court) to 'Hana no En' (The

Festival of the Cherry Blossoms); a second volume published in 1914
contained a further six chapters, bringing the work up to the end of
'Miotsukushi' (Channel Buoys). Here, for reasons unknown, the
project was terminated.
The four editors of Shinshaku Genji monogatari were all stu-
dents at Tokyo University between 1890 and 1900: Fujii Shiei (1868—
1945), Sassa Seisetsu (1872-1917), and Nunami Keion (1877-1927)
graduated from the Department of National Literature, Sasakawa
Rinpu (1870-1949) from the Department of National History.39 All
also went on to earn their living teaching Japanese literature at high
schools and universities. Recent accounts of their lives emphasize their
activities as haikai poets (all were members of the Tsukubakai poetry
society founded by Tokyo University students in 1894), but fail to
mention their edition and translation of Genji.*0 The omission is un-
fortunate, for it obscures the mission these young scholars envisaged
for themselves and their version of Genji. In a grandiloquent preface
to the initial volume of the Shinshaku, Sassa Seisetsu sets forth the
principles and ideals that underlay the translation project, and in
doing so articulates the agenda of virtually his entire generation
of National Literature scholars.41 This document thus deserves close
attention:
Whether or not they possess any acquaintance with the text, there
can be none who are unaware of the name of The Tale of Genji. For
the great majority, however, this amounts to no more than a vague
consciousness that it is the greatest treasure of our national litera-
ture. Of its style, of its structure, of the thought that informs it,
they know not the first thing. . . . Nay, we would not hesitate to
39. Shigematsu Nobuhiro notes that although Shiei is listed as an editor, he did not actually
have a hand in the translation. The contributions of the other three editors are compared
in Shigematsu Nobuhiro, Shinko Genji monogatari kenkyushi (Kazama Shobo, 1961), 433—
35.
40. Compare, for example, the article on Sassa in Daijinmei jiten (Heibonsha, 1957), 3:129,
with accounts given in Ito Sei et al., eds., Shincho Nihon bungaku shojiten (Shinchosha,
1968), 519-20, or Odagiri Susumu, ed., Nihon kindai bungaku daijiten (Kodansha, 1977),
2:116. An understanding of Genji had always been a prerequisite of haikai composition;
Kitamura Kigin's Kogetsusho is but the most famous product of this concern.
41. Sassa Seisetsu, "Jo," in Shinshaku Genji monogatari, ed. Sassa Seisetsu et al. (Shinchosha,
1911), 1:1-11.
claim that even amongst specialists in the language and literature

of our land, most have read no further than [the twelfth chapter]
<Suma.J (I) 42
What might be the cause of this lamentable state of affairs?
For one thing, it is because ordinary people are plagued by diffi-

culties in understanding the language of the work. For another, it
is because they dismiss it as a curiosity, they fail to realize that in
fact it is a book every citizen (kokumin) ought to read. (2)
These, then, are the principal problems classical scholars must ad-
dress. The first, Sassa and his colleagues feel, can be solved with rela-
tive ease—through translation:
[I]n this Shinshaku we make The Tale ofGenji comprehensible and

accessible; we translate it employing ordinary everyday language.
The purpose of this book is simply to make Genji comprehen-
sible. Accordingly, for those planning to study the tale as a classic,
this book will by no means be adequate. If, however, as a citizen,
you are satisfied to understand what sort of work Genji is, to be-
come conversant with its style, its structure, and the thought that
informs it, then this simple Shinshaku is probably the most suit-
able work. (2)
Their audience is distinctly defined: they address not scholars but

"ordinary people," "citizens." Their method is clear-cut: they will
translate Genji into "ordinary everyday language." And their hopes
are high:
Our project, if it is not too much to hope for, is once and for all to
make the incomprehensible Genji a thing of the past. At that point,
42. Confirmation of Sassa's sense that Genji remained largely unread is provided by W. G.
Aston, who remarks in his A History ofJapanese Literature (New York: D. Appleton and
Company, 1899), 117, that "[b]oth the Genji monogatari and the Makura Zoshi [sic] are
only imperfectly intelligible even to educated Japanese, and they are little read at the
present day." Masamune Hakucho (1879-1962), too, recalls the late Meiji "reign of the
Naturalists" (shizenshugi jidai) in his 1951 essay "Dokusho zakki (8)" and asserts confi-
dently that among members of the literary world at the time, virtually no one had read
Genji right through. "The Tale of Genji was something that scholars of National Learning
were supposed to read," he writes. "It was not regarded as something that writers of
modern literature should read." Masamune Hakucho zenshu (Shinch5sha, 1965), 9:306.
66 CHAPTER THREE
if readers still do not flock to Genji, it can only be because they do

not fully appreciate the worth of Genji, that they do not compre-
hend fully why it is a book that every citizen ought to read. We
who propose to make Genji comprehensible thus have a duty to
explain its true worth. (2-3)
Sassa's insistence on the necessity of every "citizen" actually becom-

ing acquainted with Genji implies a belief that the text is now part of
the "all-national heritage" of Japan.43 The task of wresting control of
Genji from its aristocratic custodians had been begun by Edo period
scholars of National Learning;44 Sassa and his colleagues are deter-
mined to discharge their inherited obligation. But their confidence in
the citizenry's willingness to partake of the newly comprehensible Genji
was perhaps not so strong as their belief in the efficacy of the text.
For the remaining three-quarters of Sassa's preface is devoted to an
impassioned explanation of the reasons every citizen was duty-bound
to read Genji.
In the phrase cited as the second epigraph to this chapter, Sassa
harks back to Ichij5 Kaneyoshi's (1402-81) encomium of 1476, but
with a significant difference. Whereas Kaneyoshi praises Genji as "the
unrivaled treasure of our land," Sassa, in keeping with his nation-
building agenda, praises it as "the unrivaled treasure of our nation
and as such, something worth boasting about to all the nations of the
world" (3).45 Indeed, even Japan's spirit of bushido, so much admired
both at home and abroad, he claims, has its roots in the culture that
produced Genji. For "if military men had not cultivated mono no aware,
they would have been but heartless warriors, war-loving barbarians"
(3). Neither is the preeminence of the culture of the Heian court to
be judged by purely national standards:
According to what we hear, Rome should be regarded as the

epitome of a culture based upon reason, whereas the culture of
43. E. J. Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism Since 1870: Programme, Myth, Reality, 2d ed.
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press/Canto, 1992), 90.
44. See T. J. Harper, "The Tale of Genji in the Eighteenth Century."
45. Kaneyoshi's encomium reads "Wagakuni no shiho wa Genji no monogatari ni sugitaru wa
nakarubeshi," (As the unrivaled treasure of our land nothing surpasses The Tale of Genji)
in Kacho yosei, ed. li Haruki, Genji monogatari kochu shusei, Istser., 1 (Ofusha, 1978), 9.
Greece is a culture of beauty and feeling. This, however, is but a

relative evaluation. When in the world, where in the world, has
there been a culture like that of our Heian court, so utterly ruled
by sensibility? Where in the world have the moon and the flowers
been so admired? In what age has there been such fondness for
mono no aware} (5)
The political implications of the comparison with ancient

Greece and Rome are obvious. If Japan is to hold its head high among
the nations of the world it has so recently rejoined, then it is impor-
tant that its culture be rooted in soil at least as rich as that of the
nations of Europe. For Sassa and his colleagues, the nourishing soil
of all Japanese culture is the Heian court—which so far as they are
concerned not only equals but excels the world of the Greek and Ro-
man classics. But again there is the problem of bushido:
The world misunderstands our bushidd) they say that we are a war-
loving people. And yet the unique culture of our nation is this
emotionalism, this love of beauty; in our opinion, the most re-
fined culture in the world is the culture of our own Heian court.
And our Tale ofGenji is truly the epitome of this culture.... [TJhose
who would investigate our true national character must first of all
look back to the Heian court and to The Tale ofGenji. (5-6)
Clearly he is keen to counter the image—perhaps the result of

victory in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5—of the Japanese as a
race of battle-hungry samurai. The true Japanese is a lover of beauty,
a person of gentility and feeling, in other words, a latter-day Heian
courtier. The Tale ofGenji, as the "epitome of this culture," thus has
important tasks to perform. It is to make "every citizen" aware of his
or her "true national character" and provide proof of a certain cul-
tural superiority. The Tale of Genji, in short, ought to be one of the
prime movers in the Meiji project of forging a national identity:
As for the period in which the work was composed, around the
Kanko era [1004-12] during the reign of the Ichijo emperor, is it
not more than three hundred years prior to the age in which the
poet Chaucer, whom Tsubouchi Shoy5 has called the English
Murasaki Shikibu, first laid the foundations of English literature?
Excepting the ancient literature of Greece and Rome in the West,
and of India and China in the East, is this an age in which it is
68 CHAPTER THREE
possible to find literature worthy of attention anywhere else in

the world? It is not. The Kanko era, which corresponds to the
beginning of the eleventh century A.D., is an era when, both in
the East and in the West, it is impossible to find a single realistic
tale {shajitsu monogatari) or novel depicting human emotions (ninjo
shosetsu). In this sense, The Tale of Genji is not only the unrivaled
treasure of Japanese literature; more than that, it should truly be
called an unrivaled treasure of world literature. (6-7)
Sassa's argument here takes an interesting twist. He is not content

merely to establish Genji as a classic on a par with those of Greece
and Rome, the quintessence of a culture unique in the world; he is
determined to prove its superiority in terms of the literary vocabulary
of the West: Genji must also be "modern," the world's first exemplar
of true "realism."
The venerable term ninjo', "human emotions," the depiction
of which Sassa equates with shajitsu, is, of course, a key term in
Tsubouchi Shdyo's Shosetsu shinzui (The Essence of the Novel, 1885-
86), and moreover had long been used in discussions of Genji. In com-
bination with shosetsu, however, Sassa's reference to the critical dis-
course established by Shoyo is unmistakable. On the other hand, shaji-
tsu, "realism," is not a word used in Shosetsu shinzui, where the pre-
ferred term is mosha "imitation." But by 1890—the watershed date
again—just five years after Shosetsu shinzui began to appear, Genji had
become a shajitsu shosetsu: in the first major Meiji period account of
Japanese literary history, Mikami Sanji (1865-1936) and Takatsu
KuwasaburS (1864-1921), both graduates of the Department ofJapa-
nese Literature at Tokyo University, describe Genji as "our consum-
mate realistic novel (kanzen naru waga shajitsu-ryu shosetsu)."46 In dis-
cerning both ninjo and shajitsu in The Tale of Genji, therefore, Sassa
extracts Genji from the past and relocates it in the "modern" world.
Sassa's preface is thus much more than a justification of the
Shinshaku project. It is a vigorous polemic: in arguing for the preemi-
nence of the culture delineated in and exemplified by The Tale of Genji,
Sassa and his colleagues attempt to resituate Japan in the world. At
the same time, Sassa's description of the culture of the Heian period—
46. Mikami Sanji and Takatsu Kuwasaburo, Nihon bungakushi (Kinkodo, 1890), 1:265.
"in the full maturity of peace, the sole, unrivaled pursuits of ladies
and gentlemen were poetry and music" (4)—is his wishful solution to
the problem of national identity. Drawing upon an idealized antiq-
uity, he propounds a definition of "national character" that stands in
opposition both to the warrior rule of the Tbkugawa past, and the
martial values of the Meiji present. The wellspring of "national char-
acter" posited by the scholars of National Literature is, of course, a
fantasy. But by advancing the mono no aware view of Heian court cul-
ture and The Tale ofGenji in this way, Sassa seeks to redefine the "na-
tional character" in the minds of his readers: "With our work on the
Shinshaku . . . it is our earnest hope that we have succeeded in provid-
ing our fellow citizens with the opportunity to reflect anew upon the
national character" (11). A knowledge of Genji, he suggests, will assist
readers to know better who they are. And he is realistic enough to
recognize that his readers will require a translation in order to fulfill
their patriotic duty.
Sassa describes the language into which he and his colleagues

translate Genji as a "modern colloquial style which closely follows the
original."47 They recognize that the didactic purposes of their trans-
lation will best be served by the new language of fiction and educa-
tion that had been developed during the decades preceding the publi-
cation of the Shinshaku—the so-called genbunHtchi style. This style of
written language conformed more closely to the spoken word, and
gained ground as literacy increased and the Sino-Japanese and Russo-
Japanese Wars generated new readerships and conspicuous expansion
in the publishing industry.48
The volume of shosetsu employing the genbunHtchi style grew
exponentially. A study based on a count of shosetsu published in the
47. Sassa Seisetsu, "Hanrei," in Shinshaku, 1:1.

48. Nakamura Yukihiko, "Kinsei no dokusha," Nakamura Yukihiko chojutsushu (Chuo Koronsha,
1983), 14:40-41, estimates that literacy doubled between the beginning of the Meiji pe-
riod and the end of the Meiji thirties (1906). On the new readership created by the Sino-
Japanese War, see Jay Rubin, Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State (Seattle
and London: University of Washington Press, 1984), 41-42. The expansion of both read-
ership and publishing in the late Meiji period is noted by Gluck, Japan s Modern Myths,
171-73.
70 CHAPTER THREE
literary journals Bungei kurabu (launched 1895) and Shinshosetsu (re-

launched 1896) estimates that in 1896 twenty-four percent were writ-
ten in modern colloquial, increasing to thirty-six percent in 1897,
forty-five percent in 1898, fifty-seven percent in 1899, and reaching
sixty-one percent by the turn of the century. Less than a decade later,
in 1908, all of the shosetsu carried in these two magazines were writ-
ten in the genbun'itchi style.49
Pedagogical changes lagged only slightly behind. In 1901, a
recommendation by the genbun'itchi sub-committee of the Imperial
Committee on Education that a study be made concerning the imple-
mentation of the modern colloquial was accepted by both houses of
the Diet.50 By 1903-4, much of the material in elementary school read-
ers approved by the Ministry of Education was written in the gen-
bun'itchi style.51 A new generation was emerging, educated in a mod-
ern colloquial that gave them access to growing amounts of reading
matter—and increased the distance between them and the language
of the Heian court. If, therefore, The Tale ofGenji, the "unrivaled trea-
sure" of the Japanese literary canon and the world's first "realistic
novel," was to make its fullest possible contribution to the forging of
a nation, if its beneficial influence was to reach the widest possible
audience in readily comprehensible form, this newly fashioned liter-
ary language was the language into which it must be translated.
The period of two decades or so when the events just described

were in train coincides almost precisely with the years between Akiko's
initial encounter with Genji and the publication of her first modern
translation of it. Given the loftiness of the ideals of the scholars in-
volved, the national urgency of the need they perceived, and the mag-
nitude of their efforts to bring their project to fruition, one might
49. Yamamoto Masahide, "Kindai kogobuntai no seiritsu to tenkai," Koza Nihon bungaku
(Sanseido, 1969), 9:153, 158.
50. Kugimoto Hisaharu, "Kogotai undo: Meiji no kokugo kaikaku undo," Kindai bungaku koza,
ed. Nakano Shigeharu (Kawade Shobo, 1952), 1:145-46.
51. Yamamoto Masahide, "Genbun'itchi," Nihon kindai bungaku daijiten, 4:140-42. The stan-
dard English account of the adoption of the colloquial style in school textbooks is Nanette
Twine, Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese (London: Routledge,
1991), 81-88, 104-7, and 170-71.
expect that by the time Akiko's translation was complete, it would

have been but one of several modern versions of Genji available for
the edification of the citizenry. In fact it was the only one. As already
mentioned, the Shinshaku project was never completed; nor would it
have been a readable modern-language Genji if it had been. The same
may be said of a number of less ambitious projects. Chapter five will
examine in more detail some of these attempts to make Genji acces-
sible. Here it remains only to note the irony that, in the end, it was
Yosano Akiko—self-taught, a disciple of no one, and with no ideo-
logical axe to grind—who actually achieved what scholars of National
Literature had been aiming to do since they published the first mov-
able type editions of Genji in 1890. To their credit, the Meiji literati
seem to have seen that Akiko's work was the perfect instrument of
their purposes—the instrument they themselves had failed to pro-
duce. It does not detract from her accomplishment, I think, to sug-
gest that the receptiveness to such a project that scholars of National
Learning and National Literature had nurtured may have contrib-
uted to the commercial and critical success of Akiko's translation. It is
in this sense that, in Ueda Bin's phrase, Akiko was not only the "right
person" to produce a new Genji for the "new Japan," but that her
talents were brought to bear upon the work at precisely "the right
time."
Chapter Four:
A Murasaki Shlkibu for the Meiji Period
g-# yowai sakari ni naredo imada kano

Genji no kimi no toimasanu kana. (2:96)*
Though at my age I have reached my prime
Prince Genji has yet to honor me with a visit.
Kanko no nyobotachi ni atai su to

shibashiba kikeba sore mo utomashi. (2:201) 2
"As worthy as the ladies of the era of the Genji"
yet heard too often even that grows wearisome.
Touring France in the summer of 1912, Akiko made a special

point of visiting the studio of the sculptor Auguste Rodin (1840-1917)
in order to present him with copies of the first two volumes of her
Shinyyaku Genji monogatari. She describes their encounter in her
afterword to the final volume of the translation:
1. As Ichikawa notes in "Yosano Akiko no koten sesshu—Sarashina nikki, Tsurezuregusa—,"

Namiki no sato, no. 38 (June 1993): 5, Akiko's poem recalls the Sarashina diarist's "Sakari
ni naraba, katachi mo kagirinaku yoku, kami mo imijiku nagaku narinamu. Hikaru no Genji
no Yugao, Uji no Taisho no Ukifune no onnagimi no yd ni koso arame to omoikeru kokoro, mazu
ho hakanaku asamashi." NKBZ 18:302-3. T. J. Harper, "Motoori Norinaga's Criticism of
the Genji monogatari: A Study of the Background and Critical Content of his Genji
monogatari Tama no ogushi" (Ph.D. diss., University of Michigan, 1971), 34, trans-
lates: " . . . when I grew up I would be beautiful with very long hair. Surely I would grow
up to be like Genji's Yugao or Kaoru's Ukifune, I thought, silly fool that I was."
2. The title of the collection in which this poem appears, Seigaiha (Waves of the Blue Ocean,
1912) is the same as the name of the dance performed by Genji in the 'Momiji no GaJ (An
Autumn Excursion) chapter, and a further example of the way Akiko's work is permeated
with references to Genji.
72
A MURASAKI SHIKIBU FOR THE MEIJI PERIOD 73
Rodin Sensei looked through the illustrations and, exclaiming all

the while over the beauty of the Japanese woodblock prints, he
said, "The number of people in France and in Japan studying the
language and thought of our two countries will gradually increase.
I bitterly regret being unable to read Japanese, but I trust that one
day in the future I shall be able to appreciate the thought of this
book through the medium of a friend's translation." The memory
of his words is still fresh in my mind.3
It was the sort of meeting that perhaps surpassed even Sassa's fondest
hopes: Akiko abroad as unofficial cultural ambassador, successfully
expediting the transformation of The Tale of Genji into a symbol of
Japan.
How had Akiko, seemingly so untouched by the politicization
of Genji, come to be so prominent a participant in the project of bring-
ing Genji first to the "citizenry" and then the world? This chapter
will sketch the process by which, as "Meiji period Murasaki Shikibu,"4
she was able to produce her landmark first translation and turn her
love of Genji into a paying profession. It concludes with a brief dis-
cussion of the reception of the Shin'yaku.
AkikoJs professional involvement with Genji began early in her

working life. It soon developed into a significant source of income
and occupied a steadily increasing amount of her energy. At the same
time it generated commissions for work on other classics, and in her
latter years became the principal object of her attention. The fruits of
this work include two translations of Genji; a commentary on Genji
that does not survive; numerous articles on the life of Murasaki Shiki-
bu, both journalistic and academic; series of lectures on Genji; a schol-
arly edition of the text; and several other related activities.5
Before describing these projects, however, it may be well to
say something of the need for the income it produced. This is not to
suggest that she undertook this work merely for the sake of money.
(Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13), 4:7.
4. The phrase is Sasaki Nobutsuna's. For the full quotation, see below, p. 81.
5. A list of Akiko's publications on Genji and other works from the classical canon may be
found in Appendix A.
74 CHAPTER FOUR
Nevertheless, the payment she received appears to have been vital to

the survival of her family. Akiko's husband Hiroshi was rarely in con-
ventional employment and hence her writing was the financial main-
stay of their large household. In eleven pregnancies between 1902
and 1919, she bore thirteen children: one was stillborn and another
died soon after birth, leaving eleven, all of whom survived childhood.
The Taisho years were particularly lean for the Yosanos; they chose
to bring up their five boys themselves but sent away three of their six
girls, Sahoko (born 1910), Uchiko (born 1911) and Helene (born
1915), to be brought up by other, unrelated families as foster children
(satogo).6 As Akiko herself explains, the very idea that her writing might
provide the means of alleviating their financial distress was suggested
to her by her reading of the classics:
I took hints from the way talented women lived in the Heian pe-
riod, learning that the independence of women's lives depends
upon an economic independence of their own making, and be-
cause of this, I support the working women of society, I delight in
the increase in work available to women, and I rejoice at the new
social climate in which educated young women go out to take their
places in various jobs. I myself have my own work, and I work
hard to meet the expenses of my household. (14:440)
She further points out that it was her childhood reading that devel-
oped some of the abilities that made possible her later work on the
classics: her philological confidence and a strong memory:
That I was early able to understand what Japanese literature is

about is because Murasaki Shikibu was my teacher. Moreover,
because of this, as a young girl the strength of my memory and my
powers of comprehension were developed, and as a result, after I
had read Genji I didn't find reading other classical works in the
least bit difficult. To this day I know much of Genji by heart; I
remember the representative literary and historical works from
each period in great detail; and I am able to lecture to students—
all because at the beginning I had the good fortune to read Mura-
saki Shikibu carefully. (19:258)
6. Yosano UchikoJs tart memoir Murasakigusa—haha Akiko to satogo no watakushi (Shintosha,

1967) explains how the system worked, and something of its effects.
The "comprehension" of which she speaks is not merely that

of a highly competent reader, but that of a textual critic. Akiko's first
known publication on a work of classical literature is her contribu-
tion to a discussion of Ise monogatari published in Myojo in August and
September 1901, immediately after her arrival in Tokyo from Sakai.7
A few years later, in the May 1907 issue of Myojo, she published a
detailed review of the seventeen-volume Eiga monogatari shokai by
Wada Hidematsu and Sato Kyu.8 Although lavish in her praise of their
thoroughgoing commentary, the bulk of the review consists of sug-
gested corrections to the work of these eminent scholars. She con-
cludes briskly: "Apart from the above points there are no glaring er-
rors. By making these corrections when the work is reprinted, the
authors will have produced a commentary without peer."9
Akiko's work with The Tale ofGenji began with lectures to stu-
dents. Her first public appearance as a Genji specialist was in June
1907, just three months after the birth of her twin daughters Yatsuo
and Nanase, when she was asked to teach Japanese classics and poetic
composition to the short-lived Keishu Bungakkai (Ladies' Literary
Association), an organization established with the dual aims of deep-
ening women's understanding of Japanese and foreign literatures and
7. With Ochiai Naobumi, Yosano Tekkan, and other members of the Shinshisha, H5 Akiko is
listed as one of the authors of "Ise monogatari hyowa," Myojo, no. 14 (August 1901): 2 1 -
26, and Myojo, no. 15 (September 1901): 60-63. A stimulating account of Tekkan's admi-
ration for the "male romance" of the Narihira legend is provided by Katagiri Yoichi,
"Yosano Akiko no koten kenkyu," Joshidai bungaku: kokubun hen, no. 43 (March 1992):
19-29. Katagiri (p. 24) speculates that the reason Akiko did no further work on Ise
monogatari was because she was put off by the narcissism and shallowness of the Myojo
men's enthusiasm for the tale; and because Tekkan had earlier laid claim to the work in
his "Nihon o saru uta" (Song of farewell to Japan), published in Myojo, no. 10 (January
1901), cited in Katagiri, "Yosano Akiko no koten kenkyu," 24. The second stanza of his
poem reads in part: "Ah my country Japan/ Ah my forefathers' country Japan/ The coun-
try which bore Nichiren/ The country which bore Hideyoshi/ The country which bore
my revered old friend Narihira. . . . "
8. Wada Hidematsu and Sato Kyu, Eiga monogatari shokai, 17 vols. (Meiji Shoin, 1899-1907).
9. Yosano Akiko, "Eiga monogatari shokai," Myojo (May 1907): 106. Matsumura Hiroji pro-
vides a point-by-point assessment of Akiko's comments in "Yosano Akiko no Eiga
monogatari hihyo," Heian bungaku kenkyu, no. 20 (September 1957): 39-46, and no. 21
(June 1958): 16-25.
76 CHAPTER FOUR
the fostering of female writers.10 Advertisements for the lecture series

in Myojo indicate that Akiko was responsible for classes on Genji, Oka-
gami, and Shinkokinshii. People connected with Hiroshi's Shinshisha
poetry society formed the core of the teaching staff at the Keishu
Bungakkai. Akiko's early repute as an expert on Genji most likely dates
from 1904-5. Over a period of fourteen months, she participated in a
Genji reading circle organized by Shinshisha members and advertised
in the pages of Myojo; together they read from 'Kiritsubo' to 'Aoi'
(Heartvine). Through this, Akiko's profound understanding of Genji
had become common knowledge, which surely influenced the deci-
sion of those organizing the Keishu Bungakkai to appoint her to lec-
ture on the classics.
Itsumi Kumi suggests that Akiko was also chosen as an exem-
plar of a successful female writer. The state of high anticipation with
which Hiratsuka Raicho (1886-1971) looked forward to Akiko's lec-
tures amply corroborates this suggestion. But Raicho was disappointed
with Akiko's performance, and recalls in her autobiography:
The impression I had the first time I saw Yosano Sensei was so
different from the person I had imagined that I was shocked. I
had imagined that since she was the author of the liberated, ex-
travagant poems of Midaregami, she would be a flamboyant per-
son just to look at, but the Yosano Sensei who appeared before us
gave the impression of having been dragged there against her will.
. . . Her figure as she stood there with her knees bent, looking ill
at ease, was so pitiful I could hardly bear to look at her.
. . . At last Yosano Sensei's lecture on The Tale of Genji began,
but it was as if she were talking to herself, and furthermore she
delivered it in the Kansai dialect and so nobody could understand
more than a few words of what she said.11
According to Raicho, the lecturers were unsalaried. And, for reasons

which remain unclear, the entire series was abandoned after only four
months. It had not been a promising start to a teaching career.
10. The following discussion is based on the accounts in Itsumi Kumi, Hyoden Yosano Tekkan
Akiko (Yagi Shoten, 1975), 427-29, 483; and Itsumi Kumi, "Hiroshi, Akiko no tegami
kara mita Akiko Genji," Komabano, no. 33 (Tokyo-to Kindai Bungaku Hakubutsukan,
March 1982): 4.
11. Hiratsuka Raicho, Genshi, josei wa taiyo de atta (Otsuki Shoten, 1971), 1:203-4.
Less than two years later, however, Akiko was again lecturing
on Genji, this time to students in her own home. The final issue of
Myojo had appeared in November 1908; in April 1909, just a month
after the birth of their fifth child, a son they named Rin, the Yosanos
began a year-long lecture series in their house at Surugadai.12 The
cost was advertised as two yen per month and initially the series seems
to have attracted some twenty students. Classes were held twice a
week until November, when a notice in the literary magazine Subaru
announced that henceforward lectures would be held only once a week,
and the cost reduced accordingly. Perhaps support for the lectures
was waning. In any case Akiko was pregnant again; their sixth child,
Sahoko, was born on the first day of March in 1910 and immediately
fostered out.
In one way or another Akiko was lecturing on Genji for the
rest of her life. Her first published writing on Genji consisted of ex-
cerpts from a lecture she had given about the 'KagerS' (The Drake
Fly) chapter.13 And she taught Genji at the Bunka Gakuin from the
time of the school's inception in 1921 until her final illness.14
The work for which she is best known, of course, is her trans-
lations of Genji. The idea for her first translation came from the critic
and translator Uchida Roan (1868-1929). Akiko's publisher, Kanao
Tanejir5 (1879-1947), recalls the meeting at which Uchida made his
suggestion:
The first volume of Shin'yaku Genji appeared in February 1912,

so I think it must have been two or three years before that. I had
called upon Uchida Roan Sensei, and during a conversation on
various matters having to do with the publishing world he said,
"Why don't you get Yosano Akiko to translate Genji and you pub-
lish it? I'm sure it would be splendid. She's just the right person!"
His being so good as to suggest this was the impetus behind the
Genji venture. Truly it was all Roan Sensei's doing. Straightaway I
12. Itsumi, Hyoden, 483-87.

13. Yosano Akiko, "Te no ue no kori," Joshi bundan 4.5 (April 1908): 5-8.
14. The Bunka Gakuin was a school founded on liberal principles by Nishimura Isaku (1884—
1963). A useful account of Akiko's involvement with the school is provided by Laurel
Rasplica Rodd, "Yosano Akiko and the Bunkagakuin: 'Educating Free Individuals'',"Journal
of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 25.1 (April 1991): 75-89.
78 CHAPTER FOUR
went to get Akiko's agreement.... [She said that] as long as Uchida

Sensei had said so, she would give it a try.15
In her afterword to the final volume of the Shin'yaku, Akiko

writes that she began work on the project in January of 1911.16 The
first volume, containing the twenty-one chapters 'Kiritsubo' to 'Oto-
me,' appeared in February 1912, although, in a desperate attempt to
keep up with requests for her work, she had already published drafts
of two chapters, 'Sekiya' (The Gatehouse) and 'Tamakazura' (The
Jeweled Chaplet), as short stories.17
Her account of six days in March 1912 allows us a glimpse of
the frenetic pace of her life at that time:
7th March
. . . My head felt heavy today. Just as I had written seven or so
pages of 'Fuji no uraba' (Wisteria Leaves) from Genji, someone
from [the magazine publisher] Gahdsha came to take photographs.
Nanase and [Yatsuo]18 protested and so I had them take me with
Rin only. Since I had just changed my kimono, and since I couldn't
think anyway, I decided that I might as well go out and do some
shopping. I had simmered koyadofu and flavored nori for lunch
and left the house. . . .
8th
. . . Taking out the children's bedding my head began to ache
so badly I thought I would collapse. Still in my daytime kimono I
got into bed at the same time as the children. I felt as if I might
sleep, so when Momo [the maid?] said that she was going out to
shop for tomorrow there seemed no reason to stop her and with
an "all right" I let her go. Momo slid the door to the entryway
shut and left. It was nine o'clock when I woke from a terrifying
dream. I called Momo but she did not seem to have returned yet.
The wind blowing against the door was making an awful sound.
Wondering how to combat the terror, I lay there full of the feel-
ings aroused by the dream I had just had. I was glad when Momo
15. Kanao Tanejiro, "Akiko fujin to Genji monogatari " Dokusho to bunken 2.8 (August 1942): 8.
16. Yosano, "Shin'yaku Genji monogatari no nochi ni," 1.
17. Yosano Akiko, "Genji Tamakazura," Mitsukoshi 1.9 (October 1911); "Genji Sekiya," Subaru
4.1 (January 1912). Cited in Shinma Shin'ichi, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari" in
Genji monogatari to sono eikyo: kenkyii to shiryo—kodai bungaku ronso dairokushu, ed. Murasaki
Shikibu Gakkai (Musashino Shoin, 1978), 260.
18. The furigana in the Bunsho sekai text incorrectly give the name of Akiko's eldest daughter
as "Yatsumine" instead of "Yatsuo."
came back about fifteen minutes later. My headache was gone. I

let Momo go to bed and set to work again. At about eleven o'clock
I finished 'Fuji no uraba' and then I wrote a letter to Paris.19
9th
I slept fitfully until about six o'clock and today too I felt ex-
hausted. Thinking that I would make the selection of poems that
I was supposed to send off to a certain magazine yesterday, I be-
gan, but my heart was not in it, and as I sat there next to the bra-
zier Kanao-san dropped in. Saying that it was to celebrate the re-
printing of [the first volume of my] Genji, he was kind enough to
bring me a box of cigarettes wrapped in twelve different col-
ors. . . .20 Since it was Saturday, in the afternoon Hikaru and [Shi-
geru]21 went out to play, the one to the Kinoshitas and the other
to the Hondas. It was after three o'clock before I eventually fin-
ished the manuscript of the selection of poems. When I remem-
bered that there was another piece of work waiting for me I felt
even more exhausted; leaning against my desk I watched the gar-
den being blown about by the wind. . . .
11th
Putting away the bedding and cleaning the sitting room I sud-
denly felt that today I wanted to have a breakfast just like every-
one else. Sol stopped [the maid] from putting oatmeal on the fire
and, with the children, ate warm rice. . . . I wrote poems for the
Nichinichi [Tokyo nichinichi shinbun] and selected poems for the
Manchoho [Yorozu choho]. The fish soup we had for lunch did not
taste good. Perhaps it was because we had had rice for breakfast.
Just as I was preparing a fair copy of the Genji manuscript, Hiro-
kawa-san came by. . . .22
Akiko was hurrying to complete the manuscript of the second

volume of her Shindy aku before she set off in May 1912 to join her
husband in Paris. The second volume was published in June, a month
after her departure, and contained the eighteen chapters 'Tamakazura'
to 'Yugiri' (Evening Mist).
19. Hiroshi had left for Europe in November 1911 and Akiko was making plans to join him
there. The entry for the eighth reveals Akiko's disappointment that ambassador Kato,
who was returning to England and whom she had hoped to accompany on the trans-
Siberian railway, had decided to travel by ship instead.
20. Twelve-colored cigarettes like the twelve-layered kimono (jilnihitoe) of the Heian period,
perhaps?
21. Another mistake in the furigana: the name should be read "Shigeru" not "Hiizu." Hikaru
is Akiko's eldest son, born 1902; Shigeru is her second son, born 1904.
22. Yosano Akiko, "Muikakan (nikki)," Bunsho sekai 7.5 (April 1912): 74-79.
80 CHAPTER FOUR
No sooner did she arrive in Europe than she became preg-

nant again and had to return to Japan after only four months, travel-
ing home alone in October 1912. The rest of the manuscript was
completed following her return and published in two further volumes
in August and November of 1913. After it was finished she wrote:
During these few short years, I was unable to spend all of my time
preparing the translation. I was perpetually pushed to the limit by
the pressure of work, both with my family and in my study. Dur-
ing this time I traveled to Europe and I was twice confined; one of
these confinements was a difficult birth in which my life was at
risk.23 Nonetheless, sustained by the interest I have had in the
original work since I was twelve or so, the translation has been
the core of my work for the past three years, and by dint of these
meager efforts, I have been able to complete it earlier than we had
initially planned. In retrospect, I am not without a feeling of re-
lief that I have managed to accomplish this overly ambitious feat.24
Akiko was keen that the Shinyyaku be a success. Her publisher

Kanao recalled that as a surprise for her he had ordered from the
Mitsukoshi department store a twelve-layer set of formal kimono (juni-
hitoe no haregi) such as Murasaki Shikibu herself might have worn.
But somehow she got wind of the plan and told him he might better
put the money towards advertising her Genji.25 She was not ready yet
to take on Murasaki's mantle, but Kanao for one already saw her in
that role.
Sasaki Nobutsuna was another who was moved to recall Mura-
saki in connection with Akiko. Publication of volume two of the
Shinyyaku coincided with an issue of Child koron which featured a spe-
cial section devoted to discussion of Akiko's work. The articles are
brief and in the main, laudatory, though Koda Rohan for one is said
to have responded to the request for a comment with the remark that
he could not remain indifferent to her poetry: he either loved it or
23. This refers to the birth, in February 1911, of a second set of twins, one of whom was
stillborn. The surviving child was the Yosanos' seventh, their fourth daughter Uchiko.
Then in April 1913 Akiko gave birth to a son they named Augyusuto after Auguste Rodin.
In 1933 he changed his name to Iku.
24. Yosano, "Shin'yaku Genji monogatari no nochi ni," 1-2.
25. Kanao, "Akiko fujin to Genji monogatari" 9.
hated it.26 Perhaps because they had been commissioned before the
Shinyyaku began to appear, none of the essays makes any mention of
Akiko's translation of Genji. Sasaki Nobutsuna's article is, however,
tantalizingly titled "Akiko to Ichiyo to wa Meiji no Sei-Shi," (Akiko
and IchiyS: the Sei Shonagon and Murasaki Shikibu of the Meiji pe-
riod).27 But he does not elaborate the comparison. How interesting it
would be if, he writes, like Murasaki commenting on Sei Shonagon,
Ichiy5 should have something to say about Akiko in her forthcoming
diaries—ignoring (perhaps mischievously) the fact that when Ichiyo
died in 1896 she could not possibly have been aware even of Akiko's
existence. The title of his article is instead perhaps intended to evoke
that period when women dominated the literary scene, and thus to
suggest that because of the work of such writers as Ichiyo and Akiko,
the present age was similarly glorious.
Nobutsuna graduated from the Classics Training Course at
Tokyo University in 1888 when he was only seventeen years old. He
went on to found the poetry magazine Kokoro no hana in 1898, and at
the time of his remarks on Akiko he was also a lecturer at Tokyo Uni-
versity28 as well as author/compiler of several massive scholarly works
on Japanese poetry, including the twenty-four-volume Nihon kagaku
zensho (1890-92; 1898-1900) begun by his father Hirotsuna. That Chud
koron was able to prevail upon Nobutsuna for his opinion of Akiko is
revealing not only of the esteem with which such an establishment
figure now viewed her work; for, it will be recalled, the outraged re-
view of Midaregami cited in the introduction appeared (anonymously)
in Nobutsuna's Kokoro no hana. It also suggests, I think, that in the
late Meiji period, tanka and tanka poets still mattered, and that schol-
ars of poetry, even the most eminent, still wrote poetry themselves
and kept up with developments in that world.
A further example of the way in which Akiko was nudged into
the role of Meiji period Murasaki Shikibu is to be found in Mori Ogai's
preface to her Shin'yaku Genji monogatari. He writes:
26. Chud koron 27.6 (June 1912): 144.

27. Ibid., 141-42.
28. When the Meiji emperor made his last imperial progress to Tokyo University in July 1912,
Nobutsuna was selected to explicate manuscripts of the Man'yoshu for him.
82 CHAPTER FOUR
[I]f one were to search the contemporary world for a person suit-
able to translate The Tale of Genji, it would be impossible to find
anyone better than Yosano Akiko. For it seems to me that this
translation of The Tale ofGenji comes from the hand of a "conge-
nial" person.29
Ogai writes the word "congenial" in English here, adding furigana in

katakana, and Shinma Shin'ichi suggests that the expression is to be
understood quite literally: by his use of "congenial," Ogai implies that
Akiko's talent is such that she "shares the genius" of Murasaki Shikibu
and ought to be ranked alongside her.30
Ogai's friendship with Akiko and her husband was of long
standing.31 He was an early admirer of her poetry and apparently took
copies of her collections Koogi (Little Fan, 1904) and Koigoromo (Love's
Raiment, 1905)—as well as editions of the ManJyoshu and the Kokin-
shu—with him when he was sent to the front during the Russo-Japa-
nese War.32 He was also nazukeoya (godfather) to the Yosanos' twin
girls, born March 1907. Hearing of their safe delivery, he had sent
the following congratulatory poem:
Muko kimase hitori wa yama no yatsuo koe

hitori wa kawa no nanase watariteP
Husbands, approach!
One surmounting the eight peaks, one crossing the seven river
fords.
Akiko was so delighted that she named the girls Yatsuo "eight peaks"
and Nanase "seven fords" accordingly.
29. Mori Rintaro, untitled preface to Yosano, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 1:4. In common
with Edo period custom, page numbering is restarted for both prefaces, for the table of
contents, and again for the text itself.
30. Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari," 258.
31. See Shinma Shin'ichi, "Akiko to Ogai, Takuboku," Kindai tankashi ron (Yuseid5, 1969),
177-82; and Kaneko Sachiyo, "Yosano Akiko to Mori Ogai," Ogai to josei—Mori Ogai
ronkyu— (Daito Shuppansha, 1992), 282-301, for detailed accounts of the relationship.
32. Shinma, "Akiko to Ogai," 178; Kaneko, "Yosano Akiko to Mori Ogai," 288.
33. Cited in Shinma, "Akiko to Ogai," 180. Ogai alludes to two poems from theMan'yoshu: for
yatsuo see no. 1262 (NKBZ 2:247, but note that as far as Ogai was concerned a more likely
interpretation of this poem is offered in the Nihon kokugo daijiten, 2:423 d entry for
iwaizuma); and for nanase no. 3303 (NKBZ 3:414-15).
Not only did Ogai provide one of the prefaces that accompa-
nied the first volume of the Shin'yaku; he also took the trouble to
check the proofs of volume two for her. On 2 May 1912 he noted in
his diary, "Began proofreading the translated Tale ofGenji for Yosano
Akiko," but this is the only mention of the chore.34 Akiko's publisher
Kanao recalls what actually happened:
Bit by bit I sent more than four hundred pages to the Professor
for checking, but as nothing was returned to me I went often to
the Ministry of War to urge him on. For a long time he was un-
able to do it because he was busy. As it was impossible to wait any
longer, one evening I called upon him at his house in Sendagi to
entreat with him about the matter. I don't know whether he sat up
several nights without sleep, but all at once the four hundred pages
of corrected proofs were returned to me.35
Ogai's willingness to go out of his way to assist Akiko in the prepara-

tion of the Shinyaku for publication is a measure of his respect for
both the translator and the translation project itself.
Ueda Bin begins his preface with a sentiment similar to that
which Ogai had expressed in his introduction:
When I heard that a modern language translation of The Tale of

Genji from the pen of Yosano Akiko would be published, I rejoiced
that this endeavor had found the person perfectly befitting it. That
at the right time, the right person has accomplished this interest-
ing yet by no means simple task is cause for celebration by the
literary establishment.36
Bin had followed Akiko's career with interest.37 In October 1901 he

published a favorable assessment of some of the Midaregami poems in
Myojo.38 He did not sign the article, but his friendship with the Yosanos
was such that the following year he acted as nazukeoya to their first-
34. Cited in Shinma, "Akiko to Ogai," 180.

35. Kanao, "Akiko fujin to Genji monogatari," 9.
36. Ueda Bin, untitled preface to Yosano, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 1:1.
37. See Shinma Shin'ichi, "Bin to Hiroshi, Akiko," Teihon Ueda Bin zenshu geppo, no. 8 (1980):
9-12, for details.
38. Nanigashi, "Midaregami o yomu," Myojo, no. 16 (1901). Reprinted in Teihon Ueda Bin
zenshu, ed. Yano Hojin (Kyoiku Shuppan Sentaa, 1980), 7:275-81.
84 CHAPTER FOUR
born son Hikaru. In 1904 he put his name to a preface for Dokuso
(Poison Grass), a collection of new-style verse and tanka by both Akiko
and Hiroshi.39 Bin also wrote the preface to her 1911 collection of
poetry, Shundeishu (Spring Thaw).40 Thus it was his abundant knowl-
edge of her poetic abilities that underwrote his endorsement of her
translation of Genji.
If I have seemed to dwell overlong upon Akiko's relationship
with the two men who wrote the prefaces to her first venture into the
world of Genji, it is because I think it important that not only the
translation but also the translator be seen in context. Accounts of post-
Restoration literary history have tended to concentrate on the devel-
opment of the modern Japanese novel, and since Akiko wrote not shose-
tsu but tanka, she has in recent decades been seen as, at best, a figure
peripheral to mainstream literary culture.41 The Child koron special
issue devoted to commentary on her work; the close relationships she
enjoyed with Mori Ogai and Ueda Bin, exemplified by the prefaces
they wrote for her—all these suggest that throughout her lifetime,
she and the literary form for which she is best known were anything
but peripheral.
In the context of her time, the prefaces to the Shin'yaku by
Ogai and Bin are much more than mere introductions to her work.
From Ogai, the modern incarnation of the scholar-official of ancient
tradition, and from Bin, Kyoto University professor and acclaimed
translator of Western verse, Akiko and her Genji received a highly
significant seal of approval from two of the most widely respected
arbiters of Japanese culture.42 Bin and Ogai's prefaces are therefore
39. Ueda Bin, "Dokuso jo" (1904), Teihon Ueda Bin zenshu, 9:315-16.
40. Ueda Bin, "Shundeishu no hajime ni" (1911), Teihon Ueda Bin zenshu, 9:335-39. I am
indebted to Jay Rubin, Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State (Seattle and
London: University of Washington Press, 1984), 213, for the translation ofShundeishu as
"Spring Thaw."
41. Consider, for example, the space allotted to Akiko in the three major postwar versions of
the modern Japanese literary canon: she receives one quarter of one volume in Gendai
Nihon bungaku zenshu, 99 vols. (Chikuma Shobo, 1953-58); a bare quarter of one volume
in Meiji bungaku zenshu; and about a third of one volume in Nihon kindai bungaku taikei,
60 vols. (Kadokawa Shoten, 1970-75).
42. Trusted not only by the Meiji government, which appointed the two to the Committee on
Literature (Bungei linkai) announced by the Ministry of Education on 17 May 1911 (and
abolished two years later in June 1913); but also by their colleagues in the literary world:
crucially different from, say, Tsubouchi ShSyo's accreditation of Tana-

be Kaho. When in 1888 Shoyo wrote a preface for Kaho's first pub-
lished story, Yabu no uguisu (Warbler in the Grove), he was endorsing
a much younger beginner in an art in which he was already accom-
plished.43 Ogai and Bin, on the other hand, write not as masters en-
thusiastic about the talent of a younger follower, but as elder states-
men of the Meiji literary world bestowing their approval upon an es-
teemed colleague's venture into a new literary form.
As it happens, these prefaces by Bin and Ogai are also the first
critical assessments of Akiko's translation, and thus must be the start-
ing point of our examination of the contemporary reception of the
Shin'yaku.
The conception of literature as a national asset and the locus
of "true national character," made explicit in Sassa Seisetsu's preface
to Shinshaku Genji monogatari, is implicit in Mori Ogai's insistence
that it is The Tale of Genji which, of all monogatari, most warrants trans-
lation. Ogai begins his preface with the question: "Is there a need to
translate The Tale of Genji into the modern colloquial language?" The
rest of his introduction is his answer:
Were I asked whether it would be desirable that The Tale of Genji

be translated into the modern colloquial language, I would with-
out hesitation answer yes. I am very keen to have a translation of
this tale. . . . For translations of simple kanbun written by people
of the Edo period, I see no need whatever. What I desire are trans-
lations of the truly ancient texts of this nation, such as the Kojiki.
From a slightly later period, of the several fictions, a translation
of The Tale of Genji is what is most needful. . . . Whenever I read
The Tale of Genji, I always sense a certain resistance; and if that
cannot be overcome, I cannot grasp the meaning of the words.
The Tale of Genji, it seems to me, is written in a style that in itself,
in separate complaints concerning the makeup of the committee, Tayama Katai (1871 —
1930), Baba Kocho (1869-1940), and Sato Koroku (1874-1949) all remarked that Ogai
and Bin, with Shimamura Hogetsu (1871-1918), a critic associated with the Naturalist
movement, were the only worthy members of the sixteen-man body. On this point, see
Rubin, Injurious to Public Morals, 199-219, esp. 207.
43. Tsubouchi Shoyo, "Harunoya shujin etsu," preface to Yabu no uguisu, by Tanabe Kaho
(Kinkodo, 1888), unnumbered pages before p. 1.
86 CHAPTER FOUR
quite apart from the antiquity of the words, is by no means easy to

understand.44
It would be wrong, I think, to take Ogai's words entirely at face value.

There is surely a fair bit of preface etiquette in his protestations of
the difficulty he experiences in reading Genji; yet insofar as they serve
to elevate Akiko's achievement, they may at least be taken as a mea-
sure of his enthusiasm for the project.
Bin, on the other hand, is not entirely happy with the notion
of a Genji accessible to all. He makes light of the linguistic difficulties
presented by the classical language and prefers to see Akiko's work as
"a new stimulus even for those who are able to understand the beauty
of the original," rather than as a version for those who, as Ogai had
put it, "sense a certain resistance." Bin is more interested in the trans-
formation of Genji, in what happens when the classical language is
transmuted into modern Japanese.
What "strange perfume will be produced when .. . that grace-
ful wonder of the classical language is transformed into the sprightly
modern way of saying things?" Bin, "overcome with curiosity" as to
how Akiko translates his favorite passages from Genji, proceeds to
quote them. There is the description of a chill autumnal dusk falling
on the grief-stricken Kiritsubo emperor from the chapter of that name;
excerpts from 'Hahakigi,' 'Yugao' (Evening Faces), 'Momiji no Ga,'
'Suma,' and 'Akashi'; and two lines from the 'Hashihime' (The Lady
at the Bridge) chapter that describe Kaoru's first glimpse of the daugh-
ters of the Eighth Prince at Uji. Unfortunately, he does not compare
any of these passages with Akiko's modern language versions. Instead,
he moves on to a discussion of the style of Genji, defending it against
charges that it is ostentatious, overwrought, or frivolous. It is almost
an early form of genbunHtchi, he writes, so much so that some of its
phrases could as well come from the mouth of a present day lady of
quality; and, except for the honorifics, it is rather closer to the mod-
ern spoken language than the stiff, formulaic styles of later ages:
When one is compiling an anthology of exquisite examples of the
ancient language, whether for study or for delectation, the origi-
44. Mori Rintaro, untitled preface in Yosano, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 1:1-6.
nal language is best. Nonetheless, in order that the lush beauty of

the whole may be enjoyed . . . a modern transformation is inevi-
tably necessary. Here lies the raison d'etre of Mrs. Yosano's new
translation.
This new translation, then, is no reckless modernization of
the ancient language, bringing it down to the level of the com-
mon reader. It is no popularization; rather, it is a new song sung
by a contemporary poet who has transformed ancient tempos into
the rhythms of today. Though it may well be useful as a sort of
"Child's Guide," it will also be a new stimulus even for those who
are able to understand the beauty of the original; [it is] of im-
mense interest, and moreover, a work that is extremely useful. . . .
It is inevitable that something will be lost in the modernization of
the ancient language. But if we were to accept the opinions of
those who hold that only old things are precious, [if we were to]
strive solely for elegance, and in so doing, abandon the passion
that flows through this tale, we would instead end up losing the
distinction of the original. . . . It delights me that, far from ren-
dering the gentle flow of the original flaccid and lukewarm, it has
been transformed into a brisk, strong, modern, colloquial style.
This new translation is a success.45
We shall return to the subject of the language of Akiko's Genji in the

next chapter. For the moment we may note that Bin's assessment was
upheld by his contemporaries: the Shin'yaku was indeed a success. It
was enthusiastically reviewed by most of the major newspapers and
literary journals of the period.46 And it was reprinted many times in
various forms and by different publishers during the decades that fol-
lowed, remaining in print for twenty-five years, until the Shin-shin yyaku
Genji monogatari began to appear in October 1938.
In reviews of the Shin'yaku, the sentiments most often ex-
pressed are those of delight and gratitude. At long last there is a Genji
that is easy to read; thanks are due to Akiko for providing it. There is
universal praise for Nakazawa Hiromitsu's illustrations—each chap-
ter of the Shin'yaku was preceded by a vividly colored woodblock
45. Ueda Bin, untitled preface in Yosano, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 1:1-10.
46. Reviews of the Shin'yaku appeared in the following newspapers: Osakajijishinpb 26 Febru-
ary 1912, 3; Tokyoyomiurishinbun 11 March 1912, 1; and Tokyo nichinichishinbun 21 March
1912, 4. Reviews were also carried by the journals Shinch'o 16.3 (March 1912): 126; Bunsho
sekai 7.3 (March 1912): 126; Hototogisu 15.7 (April 1912): 22; Joshibundan 8.4 (April 1912):
294; and Shinshosetsu 18.9 (September 1913): 78.
88 CHAPTER FOUR
printed illustration—although the lavish endpapers {mikaeshi) are too

gaudy for the Shincho reviewer.47 Citing Ogai and/or Bin, most of the
reviews agree that the translator could not have been better chosen.
There is also praise for the language of the translation. The Yomiuri
describes it as a genbun'itchi style which, without losing any of the
ancient feel of the original, conveys many of the overtones of the Heian
court era. The Shincho reviewer is delighted to report that, though he
or she had been apprehensive whether the language of Genji could be
made to harmonize with the modern, colloquial language, such fears
proved groundless: the translation reads fluently and difficult pas-
sages are smoothed out in a pleasing manner. The Nichinichi review is
by far the longest of the newspaper notices. In it, the famous opening
section, "which everyone knows by heart," is cited alongside Akiko's
version as an example of her style, but without any further comment.
Then a longer quotation, from the beginning of the 'Suetsu-muhana'
(The Safflower) chapter, is followed by Akiko's translation of the same
passage, together with remarks by the reviewer:
[In Akiko's version] two or three lines containing words or phrases

of interest have been omitted, but this is surely unavoidable when
one translates into the modern language. In so far as the feeling
{kibun) one receives from the abbreviated passage is the same as
that of the original, [the missing lines] are completely unneces-
sary. Those who delight in the subtle beauty of the words used in
the ancient language must of course read it in the ancient lan-
guage. There may well be criticism from those who feel that trans-
lating the ancient language into the modern, colloquial style de-
prives it of its historical flavor, and thus abominate translations as
offensive. Yet in terms of feeling and in terms of plot, it seems to
me that in the Shin'yaku Genji monogatari everything that could
be done has been done with aplomb.48
As far as I have been able to ascertain, the Shin'yaku attracted

only one unfavorable notice, "Evaluating Akiko's Shin'yaku Genji
47. Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964) was trained in Western art and designed the bindings
for several of Akiko's poetry collections. He also provided cover illustrations for the works
of other contemporary literary figures.
48. Tokyo nichinichi shinbun 21 March 1912, 4.
monogatari" by Hinata Kimu.49 The review is a detailed but cranky

comparison of Akiko's rendering of the 'Wakamurasaki' (Lavender)
chapter with the original, in which Hinata not only takes Akiko to
task for her many omissions, but offers her own translation of these
passages, rendering them in a semi-classical style that stands in sharp
contrast to the genbunHtchi of the Shin'yaku. If Akiko saw this review,
she took no notice of it.
The enthusiastic reception accorded Akiko's first gendaigoyaku
led to the appearance, in swift succession, of her translations of Eiga
monogatari (1914-15), Murasaki Shikibu nikki and Izumi Shikibu nikki
(1916), all published by Kanao Bun'endo. For a different publisher,
she also produced a translation of Tsurezuregusa (1916).50 Moreover,
reviews of Shin'yaku Eiga monogatari, as her rendition of Eiga was
called, began by referring to the great service she had done the read-
ing public by translating Genji so that the entire work could be en-
joyed without difficulty.51
How is one to account for the overwhelmingly positive re-

sponse to the Shindyaku? Why were reviewers and scholars alike moved
to describe her translation as such an epoch-making accomplishment?
The Shin'yaku was not merely the "first complete translation in the
colloquial language," but "one of the greatest products of the Meiji
literary world." An examination of the nature of Akiko's transforma-
tion of the classical Genji into a Genji for her own time, and particu-
larly the language that was the vehicle of this transformation, must
therefore be the subject of the next chapter.
49. Hinata Kimu, "Akiko-shi no Shin'yaku Genji monogatari o hyo su," Joshi bundan 9.11
(November 1913): 81-84; 9.12 (December 1913): 42-43; 10.1 (January 1914): 60-63;
and 10.2 (February 1914): 34-37. The existence of a first installment in the October
1913 issue of Joshi bundan is likely, but unfortunately no public library in Japan seems to
hold this particular issue.
50. For publication details of this and the foregoing works, see Appendix A. For an assessment
of Shin'yaku Eiga monogatari by the eminent postwar scholar of the Heian period work,
see Matsumura Hiroji, "Kaisetsu," in Eiga monogatari, trans. Yosano Akiko, vol. 9 ofKoten
Nihon bungaku zenshu (Chikuma ShobS, 1962), 418-22.
51. See "Shinkan hihyo to shokai," Child koron 29.10 (September 1914): 95; and "Shinkan
hihyo," Mita bungaku 5.9 (September 1914): 160.
Chapter Five:
The Shin Jyaku Genji monogatari
Masafumi o tadafumi ni shite kokorouru koto wa, tada bunsho kaku

tame nomi ni mo arazu, furufumi o yoku kokoroen tame ni mo
yokaramashi to kataraishikaba, aru hito, Genji Hahakigi shinasadame
no uchi, sukoshi utsushite mote kitarite, ika ni, to iu. Makoto ni zoku ni
kikoyu tote, waraite kakitodomenu.1
I once mentioned that translating classical texts into the collo-
quial language helps one not only to write well, but also to under-
stand the ancient language better; whereupon someone brought
me a short passage from the ranking of women in the 'Broom Tree'
chapter of Genji, and asked what I thought of it. "Sounds dread-
fully colloquial," I said; and laughing, I copied it down.
Ban Kokei (1733-1806)
Shin'yaku Genji monogatari. . . Yosano Akiko . . . kogo no zen'yaku no

saisho.2
"A New Translation of The Tale of Genji" . . . [by] Yosano Akiko
. . . the first complete translation in the spoken language.
Fujita Tokutaro (1901-45)
The two quotations above mark a major shift in attitude to

the literary use of the colloquial language. For the Edo-period literatus
Ban Kokei, the colloquial is zokugo, the "vulgar vernacular." By the
time of AkikoJs contemporary Fujita Tokutaro, however, the collo-
quial has become simply kogo, the "spoken language," a language not
merely acceptable in a work of literature, but positively commend-
able. It is precisely this new use of the spoken language, and this new
1. Ban Kokei, "Utsushibumi warawa no satoshi" (1794), in Ban Kokei shu, ed. Kazama Seishi,
vol. 7 of Sosho Edo bunko, ed. Takada Mamoru and Hara Michio (Kokusho Kank5kai,
1993), 66. The translation Kokei refers to is quoted on pp. 66-67.
2. Fujita Tokutaro, Genji monogatari kenkyu shomokuyoran (Rokubunkan, 1932), 93.
90
THE SHINTAKU GENJI MONO GATARI 91
attitude, that lie at the heart of Akiko's work on Genji and the acclaim
with which it was received.
As noted in chapter one, a good many "translations" of classi-
cal Japanese into the contemporary vernacular had appeared before
Akiko turned her attention to the task.3 In some of these, translation
was the instrument of comedy or parody; in others, a mode of expli-
cation or instruction. But as many of the titles of Edo period vernacu-
lar versions of Genji suggest—"Murasaki's Writings in the Gibberish
of Fisherfolk" (Shibun ama nosaezuri), "The Tale of Genji for Humble
Folk" (Genji monogatari shizu no odamaki), "A Rustic Genji" (Genji
hinakotoba), and so on—the colloquial quality of a translation had al-
ways to be explained away and apologized for.4 The Shin'yaku is the
first unashamed colloquial translation. Deliberately colloquial, it is
written for an audience that aspires to go no further than a modern
language translation, and holds no other form of language to be supe-
rior. The present chapter will attempt to show how this shift in atti-
tude in favor of the literary use of the vernacular is manifested in
Akiko's first translation of Genji.
Even from a cursory glance, it is clear that the whole bent of

Akiko's Shindyaku differs markedly from that of the Genji projects of
her contemporaries. Scholars of National Literature may well have
wanted everyone to read Genji, but strictly on their own terms. This
meant pages crowded with text, often topped by notes, and overlaid
with circles and lines for emphasis. In Sassa's Shinshaku, the only ges-
ture to visual modernity is a black and white illustration in the Japa-
nese style at the head of each chapter; the volumes themselves come
equipped with scholarly apparatus familiar from Edo period works: a
critical essay at the beginning of each chapter and extensive headnotes
in small print. The translation itself is only squeezed in after all this,
as though it were no more than another ancillary aid to the student.
Only Mizoguchi Hakuyo's new-style verse version, a slim and color-
ful Genji digest, small enough to fit in the reader's pocket, departs
3. See the list in ibid., 88-95.

4. See ibid., 91-92; and for bibliographic details, Kokusho somokuroku, s.v.
92 CHAPTER FIVE
from this venerable format.5 Every other Meiji-period attempt to bring

Genji to the citizenry is decked out in some array of academic apparatus.
Akiko dispensed with all of this. At her insistence, the Shin'yaku
was illustrated in the Western style by Nakazawa Hiromitsu, the art-
ist who had illustrated and/or designed the bindings for all but one of
the six volumes of poetry she published between 1905 and 1911.6 At
three yen per volume, more than it cost to buy a copy of Sanseido's
Kojirin dictionary,7 the four-volume Shin'yaku was certainly not within
the reach of every reader. But the clean layout of the text, with dia-
logue clearly distinguished from narrative by line-breaks and brack-
ets, gave it the look and accessibility of a novel. The Shin'yaku was
designed to be read straight through, from cover to cover, not pored
over piecemeal like a commentary.
And then there is the language of the translation. Comparison
of various Meiji versions of the opening passage of Genji demonstrates
how different Akiko's rendition is. The NKBZ edition of the original
renders the text as follows:
Izure no ohon-toki ni ka, nyogo koi amata saburaitamaikeru naka ni,

ito yamugotonaki kiwa ni wa aranu ga, sugurete tokimekitamau arikeri.
(1:93; S3)
In which reign was it? Among the many women of several ranks
who served [the emperor] there was one, not of the highest rank,
who enjoyed the particular affections of the emperor.
5. Hakuyo's aim, he states in his preface, is the same as that of Shinobugusa and other digests of
the Edo period: to condense Genji to its essentials (taiH). Genji monogatari shinobugusa is
a digest of Genji compiled c. 1688 by Kitamura Koshun (1648-97), son of Kitamura Kigin.
See Mizoguchi Hakuyo, "Jijutsu," in Katei shinshi Genji monogatari (Okamura Shoten,
Fukuoka Shoten, 1906), unnumbered pages before p. 1.
6. Akiko expressed her gratitude to Nakazawa in "Shin'yaku Genji monogatari no nochi ni,"
in Shin'yaku Genji monogatari (Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13), 4:6; translation in Appendix
B. Kanao Tanejiro, "Akiko fujin to Genji monogatari," Dokusho to bunken 2.8 (August 1942):
8, and Shinma Shin'ichi, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari" in Genji monogatari to sono
eikyo: kenkyu to shiryo—kodai bungaku ronso dairokushu, ed. Murasaki Shikibu Gakkai
(Musashino Shoin, 1978), 264, provide more detailed descriptions of the presentation of
the Shin'yaku.
1. At the time a month's subscription to the Asahi was forty-five sen, a copy of Child koron
twenty sen and ten kilograms of rice one yen seventy-eight sen. Figures from Nedan-shi
nenpyo: Meiji, Taisho, Showa, ed. Shukan Asahi (Asahi Shinbunsha, 1988).
THE SHIN'YAKU GENJI MONO GATARI 93
Shinpen shishi (A New Edition of Murasaki's History, 1888), composed

in the hope that "The Tale of Genji would be widely read and under-
stood by the general public,"8 attempts to achieve this level of com-
prehensibility by specifying grammatical subjects and plurals, updat-
ing the occasional adjective {totoki) or verbal inflection (tokimekishi)
and breaking the text into small segments. Romanized transcriptions
for this and the following examples replicate thtfurigana glosses that
are provided by most of the texts cited:
Izure no mikado no on-toki ni ka ariken. nyogo koi-domo amata

saburaikeru naka ni. ito totoki kiwa ni wa aranedo. hito yori sugurete.
tokimekishi hitori no koi ari.9
Genji monogatari kogai (A Digest of The Tale of Genji, 1906) is only

slightly more expository:
Izure no mikado no on-toki ni ka, nyogo koi nado amata saburaikeru

naka ni, shikaku totoki mibun naranedo, sugurete tokimekishi Kiritsubo
to yoberu koi owashikeri.10
Onoe Torako, whose Genji monogatari taVi (The Essentials of The

Tale of Genji) appeared in 1911, writes in a prefatory note that she
had considered using the genbunHtchi style "because it is easy to un-
derstand":
But it is too modern {imayo ni sugite), and thinking that the el-
egance of the original would be lost, I decided that I would do it
in the classical style (gabuntai), sticking close to the original and
adding brief notes so that there should be no passages that are
difficult to understand.11
Her rendition is as follows:
8. Masuda Yukinobu, Shinpen shishi (Oyashima Gakkai, 1888), 1:3.

9. Ibid., 1:29. The periods in this transcription represent the Japanese punctuation mark maru.
Nowadays it is used only to represent a full stop; but in earlier times it was often used, as
here, as an all-purpose punctuation mark.
10. Cho Tsuratsune, Genji monogatari kogai (Shinchosha, 1906), 1.
11. Onoe Torako, "Reigen," (prefatory notes) Genji monogatari taVi (Daidokan, 1911), 1. The
prefatory notes are numbered separately from the text.
94 CHAPTER FIVE
Izure no mikado no on-toki narikemu. Nyogo koi, amata

saburaitamaikeru ga naka ni, ito yangotonaki kiwa ni wa aranedo,
mikado no on-oboe, koto ni medetaki koi arikeri.12
In common with the two examples cited previously, Onoe's method is

to translate by assigning Chinese characters to the Japanese vocabu-
lary of the text: the character customarily read totoki is to be read
yangoto-naki, that for mihun is to be read kiwa. In this way her version
maintains much of the classical diction of the original, yet spares the
reader (whose knowledge oikanji is sufficient) the trouble of looking
up unfamiliar words in a dictionary. None of the three alter the word
order of the original. Their translation strategies remain commentarial
strategies, as if the interlinear glosses of a commentary had been moved
into the text.
It is not until Sassa's Shinshaku Genji monogatari of 1911 that
we encounter an attempt to transform classical grammar into the new
written language of the Meiji period:
Aru miyo ni takusan no nyokan no naka de hitori toki no mikado no cho

o moppara ni shite orareru koi ga atta. Kore wa amari iegara no takai
kata dewanaiP
Determined to produce a Genji for the edification of the masses, Sassa

and his fellow translators use what they describe as a "modern collo-
quial style which closely follows the original."14 Classical verb end-
ings give way to the clipped plain perfective or imperfective. Else-
where other adjustments are made: the substitution of the general
term nyokan (female officials) for nyogo koi (Junior Consort and Mis-
tress of the Wardrobe) prepares the way for the specificity of koi which
appears later in the same sentence; iegara for kiwa brings the latter
word up to date. Sassa's use of -rare keigo (in moppara ni shite orareru
koi) is interesting: much less deferential than the -tamau of Murasaki's
narrator, it is as if Sassa wishes to convey the less-than-exalted status
12. Onoe, Genji monogatari taVi, text, p. 1.

13. Sassa Seisetsu et al., Shinshaku Genji monogatari (Shinchosha, 1911), 1:1.
14. Sassa et al., "Hanrei," in ibid., 1:1. The prefatory notes are numbered separately from the
of the Kiritsubo consort by using honorifics that will make that dis-
tinction clear to the ear of a Meiji reader. Despite these attempts at
modernization, however, it should be remembered that the Shinshaku
translation only accompanies and does not replace the text of Genji.
Each section of translation is preceded by the original text (the latter
in larger print) and followed by a section of commentary; the trans-
lated passages are not meant to be read independently. For Sassa and
his colleagues, translation performs essentially the same function as
commentary: it is to be read as an adjunct to and not a substitute for
the original text.
Akiko propounds none of the popularizing ideals of the
Shinshaku translators; but she practices them, nevertheless, in a far
more thoroughgoing manner. In her afterword to the final volume of
the Shin'yaku, Akiko claims only that she hoped "to delineate the spirit
of the original using the instrument of the modern language":
I endeavored to be both scrupulous and bold (saishin ni, mata daitan
ni tsutometa). I did not always adhere to the expressions of the
original author; I did not always translate literally. Having made
the spirit of the original my own, I then ventured a free transla-
Her Shin'yaku version of the opening lines of Genji:

Itsu nojidai de atta ka, mikado no kokyu ni oku no hihintachi ga atta.
Kono naka ni hitori heika no sugureta cho o ukete iru hito ga aru. Kono
hito wa kiwamete kenmon no shusshin to iu no demo naku, mata ima no
chVi ga kokyu ni oite samade takai mono demo nakatta.16
What is most immediately striking about this passage is the sheer dis-
tance between the language of the original and that of AkikoJs trans-
lation. It is not simply that classical verb forms have been recast in
the genbunHtchi style and grammatical subjects made explicit; the text
has been entirely rewritten. Honorifics have for the most part been
dispensed with, and extensive omissions and additions radically alter
the narrative. Let us examine these changes more closely.

16. Yosano Akiko, Shin'yaku Genji monogatari (1912-13; reprint Shinkosha, 1935), 1. Hereaf-
ter, page numbers cited in the text are to this one-volume reprint of the Shin'yaku.
96 CHAPTER FIVE
Akiko's is the only version among those cited above in which

ohon-toki is translated without a deferential prefix. Instead of saburaita-
maikeru she interpolates mikado no kokyu ni. Where Murasaki made
her narrator both a participant in and an observer of the world of the
text through the use of deferential and humilific language, Akiko's
paring away of keigo marks her narrator as someone "outside" the world
of the text, distant from both the characters and the events. In the
Shinyyaku deferential forms are reserved for verbs indicating imperial
action, and humilific forms are used only in dialogue. Later in the
'Kiritsubo' chapter, for example, Akiko's narrator uses a deferential
form to describe the emperor's feelings for Genji:
Heika wa sono hah a o omou gotoku, daini dji o aishitamau koto wa hijd
na mono de atta. (2-3)
The love that His Majesty bestowed upon the Second Prince was
of the same extreme sort that he felt for [the boy's] mother.
In contrast, the Kokiden consort's apprehension concerning Genji is

described in strictly "neutral" terms:
Sore o shitta Udaijin no musume no Kokiden no nyogo wa, waga ko no
ue nifuan o kanzezu ni wa irarenai. Daini no dji ga kdtaishi to naru
no de wa arumai ka to omowazu ni wa irarenai. (3)
Once the Kokiden consort, daughter of the Minister of the Right,
knew that [i.e. the Emperor's affection for Genji], she could not
but feel uneasy about her own child. She could not but fear that
the Second Prince [i.e. Genji] might become the Crown Prince.
An example of Akiko's use of honorific distinctions in dialogue

occurs in the following passage, in which the emperor and the Kiri-
tsubo consort exchange final words:
a
Watashi no kokoromochi o sasshite kureru nara, watashi o nokoshite
wa dairi o derarenai hazu da."
Konna dada mo o-ii ni naru yd ni naru.
"Shigo no sematta watashi da to omou to, tadaima no o-wakare no
kurushii koto wa iiyo mo gozaimasen. Watashi wa ikitai, ikite itai."
. . . Koi wajikka e sagatta. (5-6. Cf. 1:98-99; S 6)
"If you understood how I feel, you would surely not be able to
depart the palace leaving me behind."
It came to the point where he was uttering even nonsense of this
sort.
"When I realize that I am close to death, the pain of this parting is

beyond words. I want to live, to go on living."
. . . The lady left for her family home.
The emperor speaks in plain forms to the Kiritsubo consort; the nar-
rator uses deferential language towards the emperor but plain forms
for the consort; the consort speaks respectfully to the emperor.
These sorts of distinctions are maintained throughout the
Shin'yaku text: the narrator is deferential only to members of the im-
perial family, and characters observe the humilific niceties that they
would if they were speaking to each other in Meiji Japan. It is only
after Genji is made Jun-Daij5 Tenn5 in the 'Fuji no Uraba' chapter
that his actions are unfailingly described with deferential forms.17 This
stripping away of honorific language (keigo) is, like the visual distinc-
tiveness of her volumes, a characteristic of Akiko's translation that
clearly sets it apart from those of her Meiji predecessors. It would be
wrong, however, to regard Akiko's departures simply as marks of her
willingness to race headlong down a path along which others had ven-
tured only timidly. Hers is a different path, with a different starting
point. Masuda, Cho, Onoe, even Sassa and his collaborators, still un-
der the spell of a centuries-old awe for Japan's "unrivaled literary trea-
sure," could not conceive of tampering with anything but the periph-
erals of the text of The Tale of Genji. Akiko, on the other hand, creates
a new Genji in what by contrast seems a different language. The depth
and nature of the difference is well described by Richard Bowring in
a percipient formulation of the genbunHtchi process: genbun'itchi, he
writes, was not simply a matter of "taking bungo, chipping away all
the more obvious old bits, and replacing them with spoken equiva-
lents." It "involved something far more difficult: the forging of a new
literary language out 0/the vernacular."18 This describes precisely the
17. We are informed of Genji's "promotion" in the following sentence: "Aki ni Genji no Kimi
wa Jun-Daijo Tenno no senji 0 o-uke ni natta" (671). Akiko takes her cue from Murasaki
Shikibu, who also "promotes" Genji to the deepest of deferential forms at this point in
the narrative: when Suzaku-in and the Reizei emperor visit Genji at the Rokuj6-in, Genji
is described as "migokoro 0 tsukushi, me mo ayanaru migokoromoke 0 sesasetamau" (Genji
deigned to do his utmost to ensure that it would be dazzling). See 3:450; S 534.
18. Richard Bowring, review of Paragons of the Ordinary: The Biographical Literature of Mori
Ogaij by Marvin Marcus, Journal ofJapanese Studies 20.1 (Winter 1994): 233. Emphasis
in original.
98 CHAPTER FIVE
fundamental difference between Akiko's language and that of her pre-

decessors. Others had found the genbun'itchi style "too modern," had
feared that "the elegance of the original would be lost;" to do more
than "chip away at the old bits and replace them with spoken equiva-
lents" would have constituted an affront to a classic. Akiko "ventured
a free translation" (jiyu yaku o aete shita)—free not only in the sense
that her rewriting was radical, but also in the sense that she worked
"out of the vernacular" and not out of bungo.
The passages compared thus far only begin to suggest the ex-
tent of the "freedom" Akiko allows herself. Examination of a some-
what larger segment of the Shin'yaku reveals several more of her trans-
lation strategies—and among them a liberty so far beyond what might
be expected that it demands special treatment in a subsequent chap-
ter. Let us look, therefore, at the well-known passage from 'Hahakigi'
describing Genji's attempted conquest of the wife of the Governor of
lyo.
At last there comes a break in the long rains—the occasion of
the famous "Rainy Night Ranking" of women—and Genji leaves the
palace to pay a visit to the home of his father-in-law the Minister of
the Left. Like the mood of the mansion, the mien of his wife, Aoi no
Ue, is "strikingly elegant and utterly unflawed" (kezayaka ni kedakaku,
midaretaru tokoro majirazu). She is just the sort of woman his com-
panion Sama no Kami had spoken of, a woman of real substance in
whom a man might confidently place his trust. Yet for all her perfec-
tion, Genji finds her off-putting. She makes him feel inferior, he can-
not relax in her presence; and so he spends his time bantering with
two of the younger ladies of the house, Chunagon and Nakatsukasa,
who are charmed by the sight of him in dishabille. Then along comes
the minister himself to greet his wayward son-in-law, at which Genji
complains, "Oh, not in this heat." The ladies giggle, but Genji shushes
them, pulls up an armrest and welcomes the minister with his usual
easy charm (1:167-68; S 38).
Here we find an example of perhaps the most noticeable of
Akiko's freedoms: she reduces this passage, so revealing of both Genji's
attractions and his failings, to a single sentence, "Genji left the palace
and went to the mansion of the Minister of Left" (38).
THE SHINTAKU GENJI MONOGA TARI 99
To some extent omissions of this sort can be explained in terms

of the history of the Shin'yaku project. With her publisher Kanao,
Akiko had agreed on a limit of a thousand pages for the translation, to
be divided between three volumes. At first she cut boldly: the twenty-
one chapters from 'Kiritsubo' to 'Otome' are drastically rewritten,
with many "unnecessary" passages of this sort replaced by a simple
bridging sentence. But apparently readers wrote to say that they
wanted a more complete translation.19 She complied, and, as we shall
see, the later chapters were translated more thoroughly—though by
no means in their entirety—necessitating a fourth volume. In her
afterword to the Shindyaku Akiko explained:
For the reason that I did not feel that any more was necessary, I
have attempted a somewhat abbreviated translation of the chap-
ters following the first chapter 'Kiritsubo/ as these are chapters
that have long been widely read and offer few difficulties. From
the second volume of the present work, however, for the benefit
of those who might find it difficult to read the original, I have
paid careful attention to the meaning and adopted the method of
virtually complete translation.20
Somewhat belatedly she realized that many of her readers required

more than a reminder of the main events of the original. In this par-
ticular passage they are deprived of a telling glimpse of the complex-
ity of Genji's character.
At this point, Genji's visit is abruptly interrupted. One of his

men, "a deeply superstitious retainer" (meishin nofukai kerai no hitori),
Akiko adds, informs him that their route from the palace runs counter
to that of the God of the Center for that day; they must not spend the
night where they are. Genji protests, but ultimately is persuaded to
leave when someone suggests that the newly refurbished garden of Ki
no Kami, one of his entourage, might offer a pleasant place to escape
the heat. Akiko's handling of the conversation between Genji and his
subaltern is worth a closer look. The original reads:
19. Kanao Tanejiro, "Akiko fujin to Genji monogatari," Dokusho to bunken 2.8 (August 1942): 8.
100 CHAPTER FIVE
Shinobi-shinobi no on-katatagae tokoro wa amata arinubekeredo,

hisashiku hodo hete wataritamaeru ni, katafutagete hikitagae hokazama
e to obosan wa itoshiki naru beshi. Ki no Kami ni osegoto tamaeba,
uketamawarinagara, shirizokite "lyo no Kami no Ason no ie ni tsutsu-
shimu koto haberite, nyobo nan makariutsureru koro nite, sebaki tokoro
ni habereba, namege naru kotoya haberan" to shita ni nageku o kikita-
maite, "Sono hito chikakaramu nan ureshikarubeki. Onna toki tabine
wa mono-osoroshiki kokochi subeki o. Tada sono kicho no ushiro ni" to,
notamaeba, "Ge ni, yoroshiki omashidokoro ni mo " tote, hito hashira-
seyaru. Ito shinobite, kotosara ni kotogotoshikaranu tokoro o to, isogiide-
tamaeba, otodo ni mo kikoetamawazu, on-tomo ni mo mutsumashiki
kagiri shite owashimashinu. (1:168-69; S 38-39)
There must surely have been many places he could visit secretly
to avoid this directional taboo; but having come here after such a
long absence, it would be a pity if she/they were to think that, his
way being blocked, he had betrayed her/them and gone elsewhere.
When Ki no Kami was informed of the command, although he
acquiesced, when he had withdrawn he lamented in a low voice,
"There has been a proscription at the home of lyo no Kami and
the ladies have now moved [to my home]. As crowded as it is, I
wonder if he mightn't feel ill treated." Hearing this, Genji said, "I
should be delighted to have them nearby. I'd feel terribly fright-
ened to sleep in a strange place, far from any women. But behind
their screens . . . " Whereupon everyone said, "Truly an excellent
place," and they sent a messenger ahead. Very stealthily, thinking
this was no occasion for any fanfare, he hurried away, saying noth-
ing to the minister. With only his closest retainers in attendance
upon him, he arrived there.
Akiko translates:
Jitsu wa sonna ni kangaenaide mo Genji no Kimi no itte tomaru ie wa

nai de mo nai no de aru ga, tama ni kita no ni hoka no onna no ie e
yuku no wa Aoi no Kimi ni taishite shinobinai tokoro mo atta no de aro,
Genji no Kimi wa sassoku Kii no Kami o yonde,
"Omae no ie e hoyoke ni itte tomete morao to omou."
to itta. Kii no Kami wa makoto ni menboku aru koto da to itte shukun
no mae wa sagarinagara,
"Sukoshi komaru no wa watashi no oya no lyo no Kami no uchi no
onnatachi ga, uranaisha ni nanika iwarete, sono uchi ni izu ni mina
watashi no uchi ni kite iru no de, semai tokoro de wa aru shifutsugo ga
nai ka to shinpai suru."
to kage de itte iru no o kiita Genji no Kimi wa,
"Sore ga ii no da onna ga takusan kite iru no wa nigiyaka de watashi
wa suki da. Sono onnatachi no iru kicho no ushiro e de mo hitoban
tomete moraeba ii."
nado tojodan o itte ita. Kii no Kami wa sassoku tsukai o ie no ho eyatte,

bantan no setsubi o saseta. Genji no Kimi wa sotto Sadaijin-ke o dete,
shi-gonin no tomo de Nakagawa no uchi e kita. (39-40)
Actually, it was hardly as if there were nowhere Genji could go
and spend the night without giving great thought to the matter;
yet if, despite coming so rarely, he were to go to the home of an-
other woman, for Aoi this would be intolerable. Genji immedi-
ately called Kii no Kami and said, "I'd like to put up at your home
to avoid this directional taboo." Kii no Kami said he should be
truly honored, but as he withdrew from his lord's presence, he
said aside, "What's a bit of a problem is that the women of the
household of my father lyo no Kami have been advised of some-
thing by a diviner, and have left his house and come to mine; it's
crowded and I worry that it might be inconvenient." Hearing this,
Genji said in jest, "That's fine! With a lot of women there, it will
be lively; I like that. I'm happy to spend the night behind the
screens where the women are." Kii no Kami forthwith sent a mes-
senger to his house and had them make all the arrangements. Genji
quietly left the mansion of the Minister of the Left and, with four
or five retainers, arrived at the Nakagawa house.
We note first of all Akiko's continued modernization of hon-

orifics. The narrator's deference to Genji is eliminated. Wataritamaeru^
combining a verb used only of the movements of the highest ranking
personages and a deferential auxiliary, is replaced by the modern neu-
tral kita; the humilific uketamawa[ru] (to assent) is completely re-
phrased as makoto ni menhoku aru koto da to itte (saying he should be
truly honored). On the other hand, the difference in rank between
Genji and Ki no Kami is by no means leveled: Genji addresses his
retainer as ontae and concludes his command with -te morao to omou
(lit. "I shall accept"). And having lost the directional indicators that
inhere in the old honorifics, the grammatical subjects of these actions
have had to be identified. In the case of Genji and Ki no Kami, this is
a straightforward matter; but when it comes to the question of who
might "think" (obo[su]) badly of Genji if he were to go and visit an-
other woman, a choice has to be made. Akiko opts for Aoi rather than
the Minister of Left, or, equally possible, both.
Even more noticeable, however, is the length of Akiko's trans-
lation. In contrast to the near total excision of the previous passage,
this one actually expands upon the original. The increment is ac-
counted for almost entirely by Akiko's attempts to clarify for the mod-
102 CHAPTER FIVE
ern reader what would be obvious to a reader of the Heian court. As

already noted, subjects are identified, and the psychological connota-
tions of uketamawa[ru] are specified. In addition, she makes it clear
that the places Genji might have gone to spend the night "in secret"
are the homes of "other women;" that lyo no Kami is Ki no Kami's
father (and note too her use of the learned pronunciation of the prov-
ince, "Kii," where the NKBZ text gives the popular pronunciation
"Ki"); that the issuer of the "proscription" is a "diviner;" that Genji
speaks "in jest;" that the messenger's mission is to have "arrangements"
made; and that whereas the original says only that Genji takes his
closest retainers, Akiko specifies "four or five."
Perhaps the most interesting alteration, however, involves
hardly any increase in the word count. Whereas Murasaki Shikibu
has Genji tell Ki no Kami that he would "feel terribly frightened to
sleep in a strange place, far from any women," Akiko only allows him
to say that he is happy to have the women around because they make
it "lively," and he "likes that." The suggestion, only half in jest, that
he could hardly be expected to sleep without female company is con-
siderably tamed. In the only cuts in this passage, Akiko omits to men-
tion that Aoi could feel "betrayed" if Genji were to go to the house of
another woman, and that Genji neglects to inform his father-in-law
of his departure.
The next passage Akiko condenses, once again, drastically. A
description of the many charms of Ki no Kami's garden is entirely
omitted, and the reader is hurried ahead to the point where Genji's
men are shown to a gallery beneath which a stream flows, where they
are served sake. Also omitted is Genji's thought, as he silently surveys
the scene, that the women of the middle rank, of whom his compan-
ions of the previous night had spoken, must have come from just such
homes as this. Which in turn leads on to less abstract thoughts—and
deeds—which Akiko translates more fully:
Omoiagareru keshiki ni, kikiokitamaeru musume nareba, yukashikute,

mimi todometamaeru ni, kono nishi-omote ni zo, hito no kehai sum.
Kinu no otonai harahara to shite, wakaki koedomo nikukarazu. Sasuga
ni shinobite warai nado suru kehai, kotosarabitari. Koshi o agetarikeredo,
Kami, "kokoro nashi" to mutsukarite, oroshitsureba, hi tomoshitaru suki-
kage, soji no kami yori moritaru ni, yaora yoritamaite, miyu ya to
obosedo, hima mo nakereba, shibashi kikitamau ni, kono chikaki moya

ni tsudoiitarunarubeshi, uchi sasameki iu kotodomo o kikitamaeba, waga
on-ue narubeshi. "Ito Ho mamedachite, madaki niyamugotonakiyosuga
sadamaritamaeru koso, sozoshikamumere" "Saredo, sarubeki kuma ni
wa yoku koso kakurearikitamau nare " nado iu ni mo, obosu koto nomi
kokoro ni kakaritamaeba, mazu mune tsuburete, kayo no tsuide ni mo,
hito no iimorasamu o kikitsuketaramu toki nado, oboetamau.
Kotonaru koto nakereba, kikisashitamaitsu. Shikibu Kyo no Miya
no himegimi ni, asagao tatematsuritamaishi uta nado o, sukoshi hohoyu-
gamete kataru mo kikoyu. Kutsurogigamashiku uta zunjigachi ni mo
aru kana, nao miotori ma shinan kashi to, obosu.
Kami idekite, toro kakesoe, hi akaku kakage nado shite, on-kuda-
mono bakari maireri. "Tobaricho mo ikani zo wa. Saru kata no kokoro
mo nakute wa, mezamashiki aruji naramu" to, notamaeba, UiNani
yokemu' to mo e uketamawarazu" to, kashikomarite saburau. Hashitsu-
kata no omashi ni, kari naruyo nite otonogomoreba, hitobito mo shizu-
marinu. (1:170-71; S 40)
As the daughter, so he heard, had apparently been a woman of
high aspirations, he is curious, and as he listens carefully there are
sounds of people on the western side. The rustling of silks and the
young voices are not displeasing. Their suppressed laughing, as
one would expect, seemed self-conscious. The shutter was raised,
but the Governor grumbled that "this would not do," and they
lower it. Thinking he might be able to see them, he moves softly
toward where a sliver of light shines out from above the sliding
door, but there is no gap. He listens for a time and it sounds as if
they must have gathered in the nearby main hall. As he listens to
their whispered speech, it seems they are talking about him. "He
would appear to be very, very earnest. It seems a pity that they
have already found a high-ranking wife for him, even though he's
hardly grown up." "But I hear that he often contrives to go in
secret to certain out-of-the-way haunts," they are saying. There-
upon, with that single longing ever on his mind, he immediately
cringes, wondering: if the time should come when even in such
places as this they should hear someone reveal his secret. . . .
As it was rather uninteresting, he stopped listening. He can
hear them discussing, and misquoting, the poem he sent with a
morning glory to the daughter of Prince Shikibu. Too quick to
poetry and a bit lax at it besides, are they? he thought; yes, to see
them would only prove disappointing.
The Governor came; he hung more lanterns, turned up the
lamps, and offered them sweets of some sort. "And what about the
curtains?" [Genji] said, "It would be poor hospitality not to at-
tend to that." "I cannot imagine what you might find to please
you here," he replied with due ceremony as he took his place.
[Genji] chose a place near the verandah to rest for the moment,
and he lay down. His men too grew quiet.
104 CHAPTER FIVE
Akiko translates:
Genji no Kimi wa Kii no Kami no imoto wa kiryojiman no onna de aru

koto o mae ni kiita koto ga aru no de, mitai mono da to omotte iru to,
kono shinden no nishi no ho ni onnatachi no iru kehaiga kikoeru. Fusuma
no soba e yotte mita ga, hi no tomotte iru akari dake ga sashite ite nani
mo mienai. Shikashi onna no suru hisohisobanashi wa kikoeru.
u
Anmari hayaku go-honsai ga o-kimari ni natta no de akkenai koto ne.
Keredo kakushigoto datte o-kirai no ho de wa nai so yo."
nado to itte iru mono mo aru. Genji no Kimi wa Fujitsubo no Miya ni
arumajiki koi o shite fumi nado o okuru koto ga konna hitotachi ni
uwasa sarete iru no o kiitara to omowazu mi ga chijinda. Heika no
ototo no Shikibu Kyo no Miya no himegimi ni okutta Genji no Kimi no
uta nado mo hanashi no tane ni natte iru. (40-41)
Just as Genji was thinking that he would like to see the younger
sister of Kii no Kami, since he had heard that she is a woman who
takes pride in her good looks, he hears the sounds of women on
the west side of the main hall. He went up to the sliding door but
only a crack of light from the lamp is shining through and he can
see nothing. But he hears the whispered conversation of women.
"It's a shame that they found a wife for him so soon, isn't it? But I
do hear that he's not averse to a bit of secret dalliance,"
some of them are saying. If he were to hear women of this sort
gossiping about his carrying on an illicit love affair with the Fuji-
tsubo empress and sending letters to her . . . Genji thought, and
involuntarily cringed. The letters Genji sent to the daughter of
the emperor's younger brother Prince Shikibu were also a subject
of their conversation.
It will be immediately obvious that Akiko reduces the length

of this passage by half. Her "freedoms" here, however, are far more
nuanced than any we have seen so far, and cannot be ascribed to the
exigencies of publishing. Rather, they are informed by a consistent
narrative logic, aimed at transforming a "story" (monogatari) that is
told into a "novel" (shosetsu) that is narrated. Just as Genji is thinking
that he would like to get a glimpse of the visiting lady, he hears voices
on the far side of the building. In the original, we are also told that he
makes a point of listening, that the sounds he hears are those of rus-
tling silks and young voices, and that he finds them not unpleasant.
The teller of a tale, who can call upon the resources of facial and
vocal expression to hold her audience's attention, can afford this sort
of embroidery. Akiko the writer deletes it, and advances the action
immediately to the point of Genji's next move, which is toward the

light shining out from the room where the ladies sit. Neither does the
modern novelist need to add that the ladies "seem to have gathered in
the nearby main hall." Nor is it necessary to point out that Genji
catches them "talking about him," for that will be perfectly obvious
from the conversation that follows. What the ladies say of him, how-
ever, she reports in full, for that is of crucial interest to the reader. In
short, Akiko here exemplifies precisely what she means when she calls
Genji a "shosetsu" and describes the act of translation as "writing Genji"
The only indiscriminate "cut" in this passage, then, is Genji's
final bit of badinage directed at Ki no Kami. When the Governor
returns with more refreshments for his guests, Genji chides him: "And
what about the curtains?" His allusion is to a Saibara that goes:
Tobaricho o mo taretaru o, The curtains are hung,
Okimi kimase, muko ni semu Come my lord, be my bridegroom
Mi-sakana ni, nani yokemu And to eat what would please you
Awabi, sadaoka, kase yokemu. Abalone? Turbo? Sea Urchin?
Shellfish have a long history of service in Japanese literature as meta-

phors for the female genitalia. Here they provide Genji with the means
to suggest to Ki no Kami that a good host would offer his guests not
only drink and food but sexual companionship as well. It is a shame
that Akiko deprives her readers of this further glimpse of the darker
side of Genji's character.
The longish section that intervenes between Genji's first inti-
mations of interest in Utsusemi and his actual invasion of her quar-
ters is translated with surprisingly few "freedoms." Hardly a word is
omitted from the conversation in which Ki no Kami relates the past
history of Utsusemi and her younger brother Kogimi, and Genji re-
marks on the cruel fate of a woman who might once have aspired to
the favor of the emperor ending up as the second wife of an old pro-
vincial governor. And apart from the excision of some disapproving
remarks about the old governor's baser interests in his young wife,
the same is true of the conversation leading up to Genji's inquiry as to
the whereabouts of the lady.
Thereafter the scene shifts to the room where the boy and his
sister are discussing Genji, unaware that he is eavesdropping upon
106 CHAPTER FIVE
them. This passage, though tightened by Akiko in the same dexterous

manner as the previous narration of Genji's nocturnal prowlings, is
rendered with its essence intact. The boy tells his sister that Genji is
every bit as handsome as he had heard; the sister muses that she might
have had a look for herself were it still light enough. But instead they
find themselves a place to sleep, the boy in the corner of the room,
and the sister just beyond the door. As she lies down, she asks after her
maid ChujS, for she "feels deserted and frightened." But Chujo has gone
to the bath. This Genji takes as his cue to make a move. He tries the
door, finds it unlatched, and enters. Making his way through a jumble of
wardrobe chests, he comes upon a lone, tiny figure, lying on the floor
with a robe pulled over her. He pulls it back, uncovering her, and says:
"Chiijd meshitsureba nan. Hito shirenu omoi no shirushi aru kokochi
shite" to notamau o, to mo kaku mo omoiwakarezu, mono ni osowaruru
kokochi shite, ya to obiyuredo, kao ni kinu no sawarite, oto ni mo tatezu.
"Uchitsuke ni, fukakaranu kokoro no hodo to mitamauran, kotowari
naredo, toshigoro omoiwataru kokoro no uchi mo kikoeshirasemu tote
nan. Kakaru ori 0 machiidetaru mo, sara ni asaku wa araji to omoinashi-
tamae" to, itoyawaraka ninotamaite, onigamimoaradatsumajiki kehai
nareba, hashitanaku, "Koko ni hito" to mo, e nonoshirazu. Kokochi hata
wabishiku, arumajiki koto to omoeba, asamashiku, aHitotagae ni koso
haberumere" to iu mo, iki no shita nari. Kiemadoeru keshiki ito
kokorogurushiku rotage nareba, okashi to mitamaite, "Tagaubeku mo
aranu kokoro no shirube 0, omowazu ni mo obomeitamau kana. Sukiga-
mashiki sama ni wa, yo ni mietatematsuraji. Omou koto sukoshi kikoyu-
beki zo " tote, ito chiisayaka nareba, kakiidakite soji no moto ni idetamau
ni zo, motometsuru Chujo-datsu hito kiaitaru. "Ya ya " to notamau ni
ayashikute, saguriyoritaru ni zo, imijiku nioi michite, kao ni mo kuyuri-
kakaru kokochi suru ni, omoiyorinu. Asamashil, ko wa ika naru koto zo
to, omoimadowaruredo, kikoen kata nashi. Naminami no hito naraba
koso, araraka ni mo hikikanagurame, sore dani hito no amata shiramu
wa ikaga aran, kokoro mo sawagite shitaikitaredo, do mo nakute, oku
naru omashi ni iritamainu. Soji 0 hikitatete, "Akatsuki ni on-mukae
ni mono seyo" to, notamaeba. (1:175-76; S 42)
"Since you called for a Captain . . . I feel this must be the reward
of my secret longings," he says. She felt utterly petrified, as if
possessed by a demon, and gasped in fright, but her face was cov-
ered by her robes and no sound emerged. "Well may you take my
feelings to be impulsive and of no great depth; but I have been
waiting for just such an opportunity to let you know how I have
longed for you for years. Pray understand how far from shallow
this must be." And since he spoke so very gently that even a de-
mon could not have been upset with him, her will weakens and
she is unable even to call, "someone, come here." Her words, "you
would seem to have mistaken me for someone else," are likewise
uttered under her breath. The sight of her distressed to the point
of perishing is so pitiably sweet that he finds it charming. "I'm
hurt that you fail to realize that I am led here by my heart, which
could never be mistaken. I have absolutely no intention of doing
anything indecent. I just want to tell you something of how I feel."
She was so very small that he picked her up and was about to head
for the door, when a person, apparently the Chujo who had been
summoned, happened to come along. Thinking it strange when
he said, "Hey there," she groped her way [toward him], where-
upon his scent, so filling the air that it seemed a cloud of smoke
about her face, told her who it was. She is so shocked, and per-
plexed as to what might be happening, that she cannot speak. Were
this some ordinary person, she would be rid of him by force; but
what if everyone were to learn of this? Her mind in turmoil, she
followed after him, but he was unperturbed and went right on
back to his place within. As he slides the door shut, he says, "Come
get her in the morning."
Akiko translates:
"Chujd o yonde oide ni natta kara, watashi ga hito shirezu omotte iru
kokoro ga tsujita to omotte kimashita."
to Genji no Chujo wa onna ni itta. Onna wa osowareru yd ni,
"Aaf"
to koe o tateta ga, kuchi no tokoro e kaketayogi ga sawatte soto e koe ga
kikoenai.
"Fui ni konna busahd na koi o shikakeru to o-omoi ni naru desho ga,
watashi wa hisashii mae kara anata o omotte he, sono hanashi o shitai
tame ni ko iu kikai o tsukutta no desu. Keshite asai koija arimasen."
to yawaraka na choshi de otoko wa iu.
"Sore wa hitochigai desho."
toyatto onna wa itta. Mamamusume to machigaerareta to omotta rashii.
Genji no Kimi wa onna no komatte iruydsu ni omoshiromi o kanjiru no
de atta.
"Hitochigai nado o suru koto mo nai no desu. Anata wa iikagen na koto
o o-ii ni naru. Sukoshi o-hanashi ga shitai no da kara."
Ko itte Genji no Kimi wa kogara na kono onna o daite jibun no shinjo
no ho e tsurete iko to shita. Chddo soko e Chujo to iu onna ga kita.
"Oil"
to Genji no Kimi wa sono onna ni koe o kakete oitefusuma o shimete,
"Akegata ni o-mukai ni oide."
to itta. Chujo wa otoko ga otoko de aru kara, sawagu koto mo do suru
koto mo dekinakatta no de aru. Onna wa shilya naite ita. (45-46)
"Since you called for a Captain, I've come assuming that my se-
cret longings have made themselves known to you," Captain Genji
108 CHAPTER FIVE
said to the woman. The woman, as if possessed, exclaimed,

"Aa!"
but muffled by the bedclothes that covered her mouth, her voice
was inaudible.
"I expect you think me impulsive, that I make love to you in so
rude a manner; but I have yearned for you since long past, and I
have taken this opportunity because I want to talk with you of
this. Mine is by no means a shallow love,"
the man said in gentle tones.
"There must be some mistake," she said at length. She seemed to
think she had been mistaken for her stepdaughter. The sight of
the woman in such distress aroused feelings of fascination in Genji.
"There is no chance whatever that I am mistaken. You speak too
hastily. [I am here] because I wish to talk with you about some-
thing."
So saying, Genji picked up this tiny woman and was about to take
her away to the place where he was to sleep. Just then, the woman
called Chujo came.
"Hey there,"
Genji called out to the woman, and as he was sliding the door
shut,
"Come get her in the morning,"
he said. Men will be men, and so Chujo was unable to raise a fuss
or do anything else. The woman cried the whole night through.
Genji's first speech is translated in its entirety, offering a fur-

ther example of Akiko's sensitive transformation of Heian dialogue
into the vernacular speech of her own day. She follows the wording of
the original very closely; but when Genji justifies his intrusion on the
basis of an idea no longer current—that emotions can have conse-
quences in the "real world"—she has him say not that this opportu-
nity must be the result of his own yearning but that his yearning must
somehow have communicated itself to her. And since the modern
reader could not be expected to know that Genji at that time held the
rank of Chujo, she explains that he is playing upon (and taking advan-
tage of) the name of the maid, Chujo, by calling him "Genji no Chujo."
Throughout the passage, despite her leveling tendencies in the hon-
orific language of the narrator, she scrupulously renders Genji's al-
most comical use of honorifics in his attempt to seduce Utsusemi.
In the narrative that follows, Akiko again edits out the orna-
mentation of the storyteller. For example, when Genji "speaks gently"
THE SHINYAKU GENJI MONOGATARI 109
to Utsusemi, and Utsusemi counters his advances with the weak sug-
gestion that he must have mistaken her for someone else, Akiko dis-
penses with the narrator's conceit that "even a demon could not have
been upset with him." In doing so, she both increases narrative pace
and tension while simultaneously removing the narrator from the
immediate company of her audience to the distance of the printed
page. Likewise with the description of the scent of Genji's robes as
"like a cloud of smoke," and Chujo's musings as to how she would
dispose of any lesser personage than Genji "by force." Toward the
end of the passage, however, far from modernizing, Akiko seems her-
self to step briefly into the role of the Heian narrator. In an authorial
intrusion of the sort that would be termed soshiji in a Heian text, she
comments, without basis in the original, that "men will be men," so
there was nothing Chujo could do to prevent him. Here again, then,
we see the twentieth-century writer tightening up the text of a tenth-
century teller of tales—reducing expansive narrative to its essences,
turning up the tension, quickening the pace.
At the very end of the passage, however, the mode of analysis
employed thus far totally breaks down. The reader may already have
noticed that Akiko's final sentence, "The woman cried the whole night
through," has no equivalent in the original text. The reason is simply
that these seven words stand in the stead of a massive cut. Here, at
the very climax of this long episode, Akiko suppresses the entire de-
scription of Genji's attempted conquest of Utsusemi. Genji's unre-
lenting protestations of sincerity; Utsusemi's anguish and Genji's de-
light in it; her pathetic recognition of the hopelessness of her situa-
tion, and the hopelessness of trying to make Genji understand it; their
final exchange of poems—a passage of about fifty lines in most mod-
ern texts—disappears without a trace. A cut of this magnitude and of
such central importance to the narrative is utterly inexplicable in terms
of the constraints of space or the narrative strategies of a modern
novelist. Reasons of a radically different sort must be sought. One
cannot but wonder, for example, whether Akiko, unconsciously at least,
might for some reason be bent upon making Genji appear in a better
light in her translation than he does in Murasaki Shikibu's original.
But that is a question too large to be dealt with here. For the moment
110 CHAPTER FIVE
I shall address briefly the far more manageable question: how is it

that Akiko had become so adept a practitioner of the skills that we
have observed in her transformation of Murasaki Shikibu's monogatari
into a modern shosetsu}
Her long experience with the language of Genji and her ex-
tensive knowledge of the world of Genji have been discussed in previ-
ous chapters. But these were not the only skills she brought to the
task of translating. As Shinma reminds us, Akiko, in addition to her
other accomplishments, was also a successful writer of fiction:
Between 1906 and the end of 1910, Akiko wrote approximately

thirty short stories and plays in the modern colloquial. Even after
she began work on the translation of Genji in January of 1911, she
continued writing works of this sort. . . . The introduction of dia-
logue rooted in a liberated modern language, a concise, quick-
tempoed style and such were amply fostered by the practice of
writing these short stories, plays, and children's tales.21
By the time she turned her hand to the translation of Genji, therefore,
Akiko was not only a proficient reader of the classical language, but
also a published writer of genbunHtchi prose. The language of her trans-
lation rises from the same source as the language of her fiction: the
"modern colloquial." As we have seen in the case of Sassa's transla-
tion, a "genbun Htchi style" might as readily be forged from the literary
as from the spoken language. In beginning from the latter, Akiko cre-
ated a language of translation dramatically different from any that
had yet been applied to the text of The Tale of Genji.
The combined effect of the characteristics of her Shin'yaku
that we have observed—the visual, the summarization and explica-
tion, the repositioning of the narrator—is to extricate Murasaki's fic-
tion from the world of scholars and scholarship where it had long
been enshrined as a classic, and to transport it into the world of mod-
ern literature. Akiko rewrote, and at times even reinvented Genji in
the language of the Meiji novelist—and more importantly, the Meiji
reader.
21. Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari" 259-60.

THE SHINTAKU GENJIMONOGATARI 111
From the vantage of the present, with its plethora of gendai-

goyaku, it is bound to seem banal to cite this as Akiko's accomplish-
ment. But, as Fujita Tokutaro reminds us, hers was the "very first
colloquial language Genji." Against the background of the work of
her Meiji predecessors, all of whom shared an earnest desire to bring
Genji to the masses yet could not bear to reduce it to a shosetsu, virtu-
ally every aspect of Akiko's language noted in this brief analysis comes
to seem an act of daring. What was perhaps her ultimate act of daring
is the subject of the next chapter.
Chapter Six:
A Genji of Her Own: Textual Malfeasance in
ShinJyaku Genji monogatari
Katawara ni Genji no kimi no soibushite

aru o oya mishi itsu zoya no koto. (2:176)
When was it that my father saw me
with Genji lying by my side?
Kimi masanu hashi-i ya amari kazu oki

hoshi niyosamu o oboekeru ka na. (1:162)
You do not return; and reminded by the myriad stars of the many times
I waited on the verandah, a night chill comes over me.
The question bypassed in the previous chapter was unanswer-

able in its local context. None of the translation strategies that could
be identified in the passage from 'Hahakigi' analyzed there offer the
slightest clue why Akiko should suppress the long climactic scene of
Genji's attempt to seduce Utsusemi. In an expanded compass of in-
quiry, however, this act of self-censorship emerges in a more reveal-
ing light.
Seeking an explanation for the major omission, one first of all
recalls a series of minor omissions, all of which have one thing in
common: Genji ignoring his wife while he charms the young ladies of
her suite; his bawdy and only half-jesting suggestion that his host pro-
vide "shellfish" for his guests; his insomniac irritation at the waste of
sleeping alone (itazurabushi); his delight in the sight of a woman in
distress. All of these, like the suppressed climactic scene, diminish
the image of Genji as the perfect lover; and all are omitted in Akiko's
translation of 'Hahakigi.'
Further afield, a similar pattern can be detected in other chap-
ters of her Shin'yaku. On the basis of this and other evidence to be
112
TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHINTAKU GENJIMONOGATARI 113
reviewed in this chapter, I have come to the conclusion that these

cuts are intentional (though most likely the intent is unconscious),
and that Akiko has highly personal reasons for making them. Akiko's
involvement with Genji is at times so total that she projects the facts
of her own life back upon the source of her inspiration. Not only does
she draw material from Genji into her own life and work; she some-
times turns the tables and refashions Murasaki Shikibu's text—and
even Murasaki's life—to conform with events in her own life. This
practice produces striking misrepresentations that to date have passed
unnoticed, both in Japan and in the West. The trail of evidence that
leads to an explanation of this complex transaction between life and
art begins with a poem cited at the very beginning of this study:
Genji oba hitori to narite nochi ni kaku

Shijo toshi wakaku ware wa shikarazu. (7:156)
Writing Genji alone, left behind
Murasaki was young; I am not.
As we have seen, Akiko's identification with Murasaki Shikibu here is

total: both women begin "writing Genji" after they have become wid-
ows. We have seen, too, that this view contradicts the conclusions of
Akiko's own scholarship, in which she asserts that Murasaki may have
begun writing Genji well before she was married. To maintain her
sense of identity with Murasaki, Akiko must, at least for the purposes
of this poem, repudiate her own construction of the facts of her
paragon's life.
On first encounter, this discrepancy seems mildly interesting,
but of no great significance. A poet is free to negotiate with reality, or
ignore it completely. But then this is not just another poem. Murasaki
Shikibu is an historical figure, and in Akiko's eyes a paragon to be
studied, emulated, even adulated. In an essay written in 1915 she ex-
presses her admiration in the following terms:
Murasaki's learning is extensive and profound; her judgment is

never prejudiced, nor is she insincere. No matter what her sub-
ject, she never adheres blindly to old beliefs, but will always put
forward an astute opinion of her own. Discovering the staunch
determination that lies behind her indirect turn of phrase, I feel
as if I were gazing at an expanse of sea. (15:122)
114 CHAPTER SIX
It was not like Akiko to play fast and loose with the life of someone
she respected so deeply. Nor could the alteration in Akiko's view of
the inception of Genji be dismissed as pure accident.
The motives of this poem come more clearly into focus, how-
ever, in the light of two other texts, the one another poem by Akiko
and the other her translation of a passage in Genji. Of the experience
of the loss of her virginity, Akiko writes:
t
Furusato o kouru sore yori yaya atsuki
namida nagareki sono hajime no hi. (1:261)
Hotter still than those of homesickness
the tears I shed that first day.
Given Akiko's reputation as a "poetess of passion," and her biogra-

phers' penchant for using her poems in the fictional reconstruction
of her amours, it is hardly surprising that this poem has become a
cornerstone in romantic accounts of Akiko's early life.1 Yet so far no
one seems to have noted that echoes of this very poem are clearly
present in her first translation of The Tale of Genji. The passage in
question describes the young Murasaki's behavior the morning after
Genji deprives the child of her virginity. The key sentence of this
passage in the 'Aoi' chapter reads as follows:
Kakaru migokoro owasuramu to wa kaketemo oboshiyorazarishikaba,
nadote ko kokoroukarikeru migokoro o uranaku tanomoshiki mono ni
omoikikoekemu, to asamashu obosaru. (2:64; S 180)
Not even dreaming that he had such a thing in mind, she was
appalled that she had trusted so completely one with such base
intentions.
She is angry, she is dreadfully upset, she feels deceived—she may even
have wept. But if she did, the author does not tell us about it. No-
where in this sentence or anywhere else in the passage does Murasaki
shed a single tear.
1. See, for example, Sato Haruo, Akiko mandara (Kodansha, 1954), 134-35; Mori Fujiko,
Midaregami (Rukkusha, 1967), 119; and, most recently, Watanabe Jun'ichi, Kimi mo
kokuriko ware mo kokuriko—Yosano Tekkan, Akiko fusai no shogai (Bungei Shunju, 1996),
1:186-87.
Now let us look at Akiko's translation of this sentence in her

Shin'yaku Genji monogatari:
Konna kokoro ga aru to wayume ni mo shiranaide tanomi ni omotte ita

to omou to atsui namida ga harahara to ho o tsutau no de atta. (194)
Not even dreaming that he had this in mind, when she remem-
bered how she had trusted him hot tears coursed down her cheeks.
Throughout most of the sentence, Akiko's translation is faithful, tend-

ing to condensation rather than expansion. Kakaru migokoro owasuramu
to wa becomes konna kokoro ga aru to wa, a fairly straightforward ren-
dition. Kaketemo oboshiyorazarishikaba is translated asyume ni mo shira-
naide, a bit simpler in its modern inflections and idiom, but certainly
adequate. Nadote ko kokoroukarikeru migokoro o uranaku tanomoshiki
mono ni omoikikoekemu is severely contracted to tanomi ni omotte ita to
omou to, which leaves both nadote and ko kokoroukarikeru unaccounted
for, but at least does not distort. The last words of the sentence, how-
ever, are another matter. Where Murasaki Shikibu merely says that
the child was appalled (asamashu obosaru), Akiko says that "hot tears
coursed down her cheeks" {atsui namida ga harahara to ho o tsutau no
de atta). The same hot tears, it would appear, as those of Akiko's own
"first day."
Once alerted to such a propensity in an author/translator, one
begins to suspect evidence of it in passages that might otherwise pass
unnoticed. Consider, for example, the passage depicting Genji's un-
anticipated, and ultimately momentous, tryst with Oborozukiyo on
the night of the Emperor's "Cherry Blossom Feast." The night grows
late, the festivities end, the courtiers go their separate ways, the Em-
peror and Empress return to their quarters, and silence settles upon
the palace. But the moon is bright, Genji is drunk, and he sets off in
search of further pleasures. The original text reads:
Moshi sarinubeki hima moya aru to, Fujitsubo watari 0, warino shinobite
ukagai arikedo, kataraubeki toguchi mo sashitekereba. (1:426; S 151)
Thinking he might just find an advantageous opening, in great
stealth he set out to reconnoiter the environs of the Fujitsubo;
but all of the doors where he might have talked someone into some-
thing were locked tight.
116 CHAPTER SIX
Akiko translates:
Moshi suki ga atte chugu ni hitokoto demo mono ga ieta nara to, konna
koto o omotte Fujitsubo no soba o aruite mita ga to ga mina shimatte
iru. (162) '
If there were an opening and he could have even just a word with
the Empress—thinking thus, he walked around the Fujitsubo, but
all of the doors were locked.
Only a suspicious eye would find fault with this translation. There is
nothing in it that could be called mistaken, no "freedom" nor omis-
sion that could not be defended. And yet there is a curiously laun-
dered quality about Akiko's version. Murasaki's vocabulary—her com-
bination of suki (gap), shinobite (stealthily, clandestinely, secretly),
ukaga[u] (spying or reconnoitering preliminary to an attack)—makes
an almost military metaphor of her description of Genji's attempt to
breach the defenses of the Wisteria Court. Akiko's Genji is altogether
more placid in his approach. Most obviously, the element of stealth is
elided; and instead of "spying" (ukaga[u]) Genji simply "looks" {mi[ru}).
And surely Akiko knows that an empress would not be anywhere near
an outer door; and that katarau does not signify that he wants to have
a brief chat with her.2 Something is "off here, and whatever it is seems
motivated by a desire to make Genji appear to better advantage in
translation than he does in the original. It is as if Akiko is protecting
her hero from the possibility that her readers might think ill of him.
The notion at first seems far-fetched; yet the impression is
strengthened in the next sentence where we see Genji's reaction to
this frustrating situation:
Uchinagekite, nao araji ni, Kokiden no hosodono ni tachiyoritamaereba,
san no kuchi akitari. (1:426; S 151)
He sighed, [thinking] "Now this will never do," and he went on to
the gallery of the Kokiden, where the third door stood open.
2. She certainly knows in her later Shin-shin'yaku translation. Compare "Moshi chugu e sekkin
suru kikai o hiro koto ga dekitara to omotte, Genji wa Fujitsubo no otodo o sotto ukagatte mita
ga, nyobo o yobidasu yo na toguchi mo mina tojite shimatte atta." (Hoping that he might be
able to seize an opportunity to approach the empress, Genji quietly called at the Fujitsubo,
but all the doors where he might have summoned a lady-in-waiting were shut fast.) Shin-
shin'yaku Genji monogatari (1938-39; reprint, Nihonsha, 1948), 1:264.
TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHIN'YAKU GENJIMONOGATARI 117
Akiko translates:
Tansoku o shinagara Kokiden no goten no soto no hosoroka o torn to san

no kuchi ga aite ita. (162)
Sighing, he passed along the narrow corridor of the Kokiden,
where the third door stood open.
In the original Genji is adamant: "this will never do" (nao araji ni). If
he cannot sleep with Fujitsubo he must find someone to sleep with.
Akiko allows her readers to hear him sigh and observe his movements;
his somewhat less than admirable thought is suppressed. Even his
movements seem less determined, substituting as she does torn for
tachiyoru.
Suspicion, of course, may feed upon itself; one must guard
against overinterpretation. Yet as one reads further in this passage,
what at first seemed suspicious and aberrant begins to look more like
a distinct pattern. As Genji moves along the corridor, he hears and
then sees an attractive young lady coming toward him. The original
begins:
Oku no kururudo mo akite, hitooto mo sezu. Kayo nite yo no naka no

ayamachi wa suru zo kashi to omoite, yaora noborite nozokitamau. Hito
wa mina netarubeshi. Ito wako okashige naru koe no, nabete no hito to
wa kikoenu, "oborozukiyo ni niru mono zo naki" to, uchizunjite,
konatazama ni wa kuru mono ka. (1:426; S 151-52)
The inner hinged door was open, and there was no sound of people.
Thinking this just the way one goes wrong in affairs between men
and women, [Genji] quietly stepped up, and peered inside. Every-
one seemed to be asleep. [He heard] a very young and beautiful
voice, that did not sound like anyone of ordinary rank, chanting
"naught to resemble a night of a misty moon;" and she was com-
ing this way!
Akiko translates:
Oku no kururudo mo aite iru. Genji no Kimi wa sotto agatte naka o

nozoite mita. Tatte iru Genji no Kimi no mimi ni wakai utsukushii
onna no koe ga kikoete kita.
Teri mo sezu kumori mo hatenu haru no yo wa oborozukiyo ni
shiku mono zo naki
to, sore wa koka o utatte iru no de aru. Soshite sono hito wa kochira e
aruite kita. (162)
118 CHAPTER SIX
The inner hinged door stood open. Genji quietly stepped up, and
peered inside. As he stood there, Genji heard the young and beau-
tiful voice of a woman.
"Neither shining brightly nor completely clouded: naught to
compare with such a night in spring, a night of a misty moon."
she said. It was an old poem she was chanting. And then that per-
son walked this way.
Once the open door is noted, original and translation diverge sharply.
Akiko omits to mention that there is no sign of life within. More sig-
nificantly, however, she again launders Genji's thoughts, suppressing
the line in which he muses that this is "just the way one goes wrong in
affairs between men and women." Neither does Akiko allow Genji to
make any mental notes about the social rank of the young woman.3
Thereafter, the original continues:
Ito ureshikute, futo sode o toraetamau. Onna, osoroshi to omoeru keshiki

nite, "Ana mukutsuke. Ko wa taso" to notamaedo, "Nanika utomashiki"
tote,
"Fukaki yo no aware o shiru mo iru tsuki no
oboroke naranu chigiri to zo omou "
3. Two aspects of Akiko's handling of this passage, though not germane to the present argu-
ment, are worth noting. One is Akiko's treatment of Oborozukiyo's chanted line of po-
etry. In the original, Murasaki Shikibu has her chant only the second hemistich of the
poem by Oe no Chisato (fl. ca. 900), which for Heian readers was sufficient to call to
mind the whole. Akiko cannot assume this level of knowledge on the part of her readers:
she quotes the entire poem, and then goes on to point out that "it was an old poem she
was chanting." Akiko's source—or perhaps her memory—mistakes one syllable: haru no
yo wa should read haru no yo no. Although later collected in the Shinkokinshu (no. 55;
NKBZ 26:53), the poem is one of a number oikudai waka (Japanese poems on lines from
Chinese poems—in this case, by Po Chii-i) composed in 894 at the command of Emperor
Uda.
Second, her handling of the last phrase, uchizunjite, konatazama ni wa kuru mono ka
([she] chants [and Genji thinks] 'she is coming this way!'), in which the narrative point of
view shifts from that of an external viewer of the scene to the internal thoughts of Genji
between the first verb and the second, shows a clear awareness of the problem. After the
chanting and her explanation of what was chanted, she places a full stop, thus dropping
the viewpoint of the external narrator. Then, starting anew, she attempts to capture the
interiority of the latter words with a shift in her own narrative stance, adopting (insofar
as one can in modern Japanese) the viewpoint of Genji. "That person" (sono hito) walks
"this way" (kochira e). The language of this phrase is of that sort described by the Edo
period scholar Nakajima Hirotari (1792-1864) as "shifting" {utsurikotoba). See Akiyama
Ken, "'Utsurikotoba' to iu koto," Murasaki, no. 21 (1984):58—61; and Ikeda Setsuko,
"Utsurikotoba," in Genji monogatari jiten, ed. Akiyama Ken, Bessatsu kokubungaku se-
ries, no. 36 (Gakutosha, 1989), 156-57.
tote, yaora idakioroshite, to wa oshitatetsu. Asamashiki ni akiretaru

sama, ito natsukashu okashige nari. Wananaku wananaku, "Koko ni,
hito" to notamaedo, "Maro wa, minahito ni yurusaretareba,
meshiyosetaritomo, nanjo koto ka aran. Tada shinobite koso" to notamau
koe ni, kono kimi narikeri, to kikisadamete, isasaka nagusamekeri.
(1:426-27; S 152-53)
Utterly delighted, he immediately grasped her sleeve. The woman,
who appeared to feel frightened, said "Oh, horrors! Who is this?"
"What's there to be upset about?" he said,
"One who knows the beauty of a late night appreciates
this misted setting moon; and this far from misty bond."
He gently embraced her, lowered her, and shut the door. The sight
of her, aghast with terror, was very fetching and pretty. Trem-
bling, she said, "Come here, someone," but he said, "I am permit-
ted what I please by everyone; so even if you summon someone,
what is to come of it? Now just be quiet." At the sound of his
voice, she determined that it was he, and took some small comfort
in that.
Akiko's Shinyyaku reads:
Genji no Kimi wa ureshikute sono hito no sode o toraeta. Onna wa

odoroite,
"Dare"
to koe o tateta.
"Watashi mo tsuki o mite ita hito desu."
to itte Genji no Kimi wa soko no to o shimete shimatta.
"Dare ka kite kudasai."
to onna wa furuenagara itta.
"Watashi wa mina ni shochi sashite kita no da kara, anata ga o-yobi ni
natte mo kuru mono ga nai desho."
Genji no Kimi wa konna koto o itta. Onna wa ima no koe o kiite kono
otoko ga Genji no Kimi de aru koto ni ki ga tsuita. Genji no Kimi de
atta nara to iu ki ni mo natta. Tsuyoi hari mo nai onna de aru. (162—
63)
Genji was overjoyed and took hold of that person's sleeve. T h e
woman was startled.
"Who is it?" she said.
"I too am someone who was looking at the moon."
So saying, Genji shut the door to the place.
"Someone, please come!" said the woman, shaking.
"I come with everyone's consent, and so even if you call out there
is nobody who will come."
120 CHAPTER SIX
Such were the things that Genji said. Hearing this voice, the
woman realized that the man was Genji. She then felt that, "Well,
if it's Genji. . . ." She was not a strong-willed woman.
Here the description of Genji's behavior seems quite systematically

sanitized. Where in the original Oborozukiyo reacts in horror (ana
mukutsuke), in Akiko's translation she says only "who is it" (dare). Genji
is not allowed to ask "What's there to be upset about?" Nor does he
continue his reply in poetry. He simply says, "I too am someone who
was looking at the moon." There is no mention of a "bond" (chigiri),
an omission that elides the overtones of physical as well as karmic
bonding that the word traditionally conveys. And when Genji takes
physical possession of Oborozukiyo, Akiko omits to note that he "gen-
tly embraced her and lowered her" (yaora idakioroshite); she tells her
readers only that "he shut the door." The Genji narrator's remark that
"the sight of her, aghast with terror, was very fetching and pretty" is
totally suppressed, as is Genji's own advice to the young lady that she
should "just keep quiet."
By the end of this encounter, there seems little doubt that our
initial suspicions have been entirely justified, that whatever other rea-
sons might be offered in explanation of the departures and omissions
in this passage, it is also informed by a private agenda. This agenda is
epitomized with wonderful clarity in Akiko's translation of the famous
description of the youthful Genji that introduces the 'Hahakigi' chapter:
Hikaru Genji, na nomi kotogotoshu, iiketaretamau toga oka[n]naru

ni, itodo, kakaru sukigotodomo o sue noyo ni mo kikitsutaete, karobitaru
na o ya nagasamu to, shinobitamaikeru kakuroegoto o sae, kataritsu-
taekemu hito no mono iisaganasayo. Saru wa, ito itakuyo o habakari,
mamedachitamaikeru hodo, nayobika ni okashiki koto wa nakute, Katano
no Shosho ni wa, warawaretamaikemu kashi. (1:129; S 20)
The Shining Genji! Grand though the name is, they say there were
many transgressions for which he was criticized severely. And yet
even those that he concealed with such great care, lest his amours
be talked of even in ages to come and earn him a name for frivol-
ity, have come down to us—thanks to the gossips of this world. In
fact, however, he was so painfully discreet and righteous-seem-
ing, and his life so bereft of romance and spice, that he would
surely be the laughing stock of the Katano Lieutenant.
In Akiko's translation this rambling and richly nuanced char-

acterization is distilled to a single confident claim:
Genji no Kimi wa seken ni takusan kata no aru koshoku-otoko to wa

chigatte ita. (21)
Genji was different from those libertines of the sort so numerous
in this world.
Gone are Genji's transgressions, gone his care to conceal them and
his concern for reputation, gone the "righteous-seeming" {mame-
da[tsu\) facade that hides both pretense and genuine discretion. Genji
is simply "different," not like those other "libertines."
Yet if Akiko is indeed systematically altering the "facts" of
Genji's life, masking his flaws and shielding him from the criticism of
her readers, we must then ask: why? That a woman writer, steeped in
Genji from childhood, should identify with Murasaki Shikibu, and even
with the fictional Murasaki, seems natural enough. Though tamper-
ing with the texts of these women's lives may not be sound scholarly
practice, as a psychological phenomenon it is entirely explicable. But
why should Akiko tamper in the same way with the "facts" of the life
of Murasaki's male protagonist, the Shining Genji?
A clue of sorts—tenuous, but relevant—is to be found, I think,
in a letter from Akiko to Tekkan. The letter is dated Meiji 34.5.29/29
May 1901, less than a month before Akiko ran away from her home in
Sakai to join Tekkan in Tokyo. It reads in part as follows:
Recalling Genji and what-not, who am I? Well certainly not the

'Yomogiu' lady, I should think. "The quick-witted and charming
Gosechi dancer from Tsukushi came first to his mind."4 Is that
who I am? "Time and again she delighted him with unexpected
letters, which he found fetching and touching. But in the end he
made no overtures. His world was too circumscribed, he could
not do as he liked, and when he moved on to other things, there
4. Quotation marks in original. Akiko's letter here reads: "Kuchi togarishi kokoro nikukarishi
Tsukushi no Gosechi nado saki omoiidetamau" loosely quoting (presumably from memory) a
passage from 'Hanachirusato' (The Orange Blossoms) which reads: "lKayo no kiwa ni,
Tsukushi no Gosechi ga rotage narishi wa yay to mazu oboshiidezu" ('Among those of rank,
yes, it is the Gosechi dancer from Tsukushi who is most fetching,' [Genji mused], recall-
ing [her] first of all.) See 2:147; S 217.
122 CHAPTER SIX
were many who resented it."5 When I think of such things as that—
well, just don't you break your promises in this life the way Genji
disappointed her! He faithfully promises everyone—beginning
with Yugao—that in the life to come, they will be reborn together
on the same lotus. Yet even if he should have a lotus-seat at the
uppermost of the nine levels, surely he couldn't get that many
people on a single lotus flower? You see what I mean, Genji?—or
is it Narihira? In this life, with your lotus-seat still unopened, I
ask you: just how many women can you get on it? In matters of
this sort, my love, in this life at least, pray let me be the only one
with whom you exchange sake cups.6
This is an elusive document, a playful, teasing letter written

in the excitement of a rather daring love affair. The lovers' repartee is
couched in pseudo-quotations; and in places it is so disjointed syntac-
tically that it utterly defies anything like close translation. Under care-
ful scrutiny the letter nonetheless yields suggestive leads. In the first
place, it is the only surviving source in which Akiko explicitly equates
Tekkan to Genji and herself to a lover of Genji. And the manner in
which the equation is made suggests that there is more to it than ro-
mantic fantasy. Whatever his charms, AkikoJs real-life "Genji" is a
man of philandering tendencies; and however great her infatuation,
she is not blind to his failing. In this sense the equation is highly
appropriate, even realistic. "You are my Genji/' she says, "but please
5. Akiko marks the opening of this citation-cum-summary with a quotation mark, the end with
a line break: "Fumi tabitabi odorokasekoshi nado natsukashiku aware to obosedo ima wa iwaji
yo no naka sebakute migokoro ni makasezu yoso ni sugiitamau nimo urameshige naru hito
okari [.]" Her words are, I think, loosely based on the final lines of the 'Akashi' chapter,
in which Genji replies to an unexpected letter and poem from the Gosechi dancer. The
narrator remarks: "Akazu okashi to oboshishi nagori nareba, odorokasaretamaite itodo
oboshiizuredo, kono goro wa sayo no on-furumai sara ni tsutsumitamaumeri. Hanachirusato
nado nimo, tada on-shosoku nado bakari nite, obotsukanaku, nakanaka urameshige nari" (He
found her endlessly attractive, and as he still had a lingering affection for her, when he
heard from her unexpectedly, he recalled her all the more fondly. But it seems that of late
he was behaving more discreetly in such matters. To Hanachirusato and some others he
sent only letters, which they found unsettling and, far from being pleased, were resent-
ful.) See 2:265; S 270.
6. Translated from the text given in Itsumi Kumi, "Yosano Akiko no Genji monogatari kogoyaku
ni tsuite," Kokugakuin zasshi 94.1 (January 1993): 16-17, a new transcription of a letter
which first appeared in Sato Ryoyu, Midaregami ko (1956; reprint, Kindai sakka kenkyu
sosho, vol. 104. Nihon Tosho Sentaa, 1990), 273-75. I am most grateful to Professor
Ichikawa Chihiro for providing me with a copy of her own transcription of this letter, in
which a number of misprints in the Itsumi text are corrected.
TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHIN'YAKU GENJ1MONOGATARI 12 3
don't be too much of a Genji; in this life, at least, let me be your only
love."
Against the backdrop of this conception of herself, her lover,
and their relationship, Akiko's liberties in her first translation of The
Tale of Genji begin to seem if not excusable, then at least explicable.
The wishful imagination that makes of a lover a paragon on the model
of the Shining Genji may also wish to eliminate the flaws that mar the
perfection of that paragon. In such a state of mind—and this letter
clearly shows Akiko's mind in such a state—it requires only a mini-
mum of self-deception to deflect one's search for a solution from the
world of real life to the world of fiction. Texts are more amenable to
alteration than people.
What Akiko seems to be doing in her libertine rendering of
the 'Hana no En' chapter I have described as "protecting Genji." But
is it not possible that in "protecting" the fictional Genji, Akiko is ac-
tually attempting to protect herself against the disappointments of
Tekkan, her own "real-life Genji?" Earlier we have observed her tam-
pering with the facts of the fictional Murasaki's life to bring it into
closer congruence with her own; then we saw her eliding those pro-
clivities in Genji's character that detract from the Genji she is pre-
pared to let her readers know. These are the very proclivities that we
now see she once entreated the man himself to control in her letter to
him. It is as if in obscuring Genji's fictional flaws, she is shielding
herself from the very real flaws in her (by then) husband. She knew
from the start that she would need a shield of some sort. Ten years
and seven children later, at work on her Shin'yaku Genji monogatari,
the Genji/Tekkan equation seen in her early letter seems still strong
enough to provide it.
This is not an idea that can be pushed to extremes. Mental
processes—of which even the subject herself may not always be
aware—can never be proven beyond doubt. This one, however, is sus-
ceptible, if not of proof, at least of corroboration by a sort of docu-
mentary triangulation. Between June and September of 1913—which
is to say, during the same months that Akiko completed her first trans-
lation of Genji—Akiko serialized in the Tokyo Asahi shinbun the only
full-length novel she was ever to write. This work, subsequently re-
vised and published Âkarumi e (Toward the Light), describes a dif-
124 CHAPTER SIX
ficult period in the marriage of two writers whose lives bear a striking
resemblance to those of Akiko and Hiroshi—so much so, indeed, that
scholars regard Akarumi e as a roman a clefof great "fidelity to fact."7
Torn, the husband, is subject to spells of lassitude and melancholy.
His wife Kyoko suggests a trip to Europe to revitalize his flagging
spirits, and with characteristic dispatch sets about making concrete
arrangements for the journey—just as Akiko herself did in order to
facilitate Hiroshi's departure for France in November 1911. The cru-
cial matter of money was the most difficult to arrange. KySko writes
first to her sister asking for a loan of 2,000 yen. She then visits her
publisher and asks him to help her raise the money. Meanwhile, Toru
goes to Fukuoka to ask his elder brother for help. When he delays his
return, and then writes to his wife that he has obtained the requisite
funds, saying curtly that "further efforts on your part are unneces-
sary," his very success arouses jealous suspicions. She jumps to the
conclusion that the money was obtained not from his brother at all,
but from Sadano, a former lover of her husband with whom she is
sure he is still in contact. Consumed with jealousy, Kyoko convinces
herself not only that her husband has prevailed upon Sadano for a
loan, but that he has never ceased to think about his former lover,
that he prefers his son by her to any of his legitimate children, that he
will find parting from Sadano more painful than parting from his wife,
that KySko will grow old and ugly waiting for him to return.8
The rest of the Hovel describes how Kyoko discovers that none
of this is true. But more importantly, as time passes she convinces
herself that her husband's moodiness and ill treatment of her are her
own fault. Her jealousy and anguish over a relationship that is over
have been utterly unwarranted, in her own words, no more than toriko-
shiguro, worries that she might have spared herself. Writing to a friend
in the last chapter of the novel, Kyoko confesses:
And now at last I have come to understand the reason why he

flora] has been insufferably sarcastic and made me feel wretched,
why at times he has treated me in a manner indescribable. I was
7. The most recent edition of Akarumi e appears in a series entitled Sakka no jiden, that is,
"Autobiographies of authors."
8. "Sadano" corresponds to Hayashi Takino. See the introduction, note 13.
TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHINTAKU GENJIMONOGATARI US
intoxicated, irretrievably deluded in thinking him the thrall of a

life-long passion [for Sadano]; how exasperating, how pitiful, how
idiotic he must have found me!9
What makes Akarumi e of particular interest to us here is that

the relationship Akiko depicts between husband and wife in her novel
has an exact parallel in her rendition of the relationship between Genji
and Murasaki in her translation of the 'Maboroshi' (The Wizard) chap-
ter of Genji. (We might note, too, that Akiko translated 'Maboroshi'
after her return from the trip to Europe, the preparations for which
occupy a great deal of space in the novel. Hiroshi's self-confidence
had been restored and it was a time when their relationship did in-
deed seem to be moving "toward the light.") Let us look first at
'Maboroshi' in the original.
After Murasaki's death, Genji withdraws from the world and
in the year thereafter spends a great deal of time reflecting upon his
loss and the life he had lived with her:
Nyobo nado mo, toshigoro henikeru wa, sumizome no iro komayaka nite
kitsutsu, kanashisa mo aratamegataku omoisamasubekiyo naku koikiko-
yuru ni, taete on-katagata ni mo wataritamawazu, magirenaku mitate-
matsuru o nagusame nite, naretsukaumatsuru. Toshigoro, mameyaka
ni migokoro todomete nado wa arazarishikado, tokidoki wa mihanatanu
yd ni oboshitaritsuru hitobito mo, nakanaka, kakaru sabishiki on-hitorine
ni narite wa, ito ozo ni motenashitamaite, yoru no on-tonoi nado ni mo,
kore kare to amata o, omashi no atari hikisaketsutsu, saburawasetamau.
(4:508; S 723)
Her waiting ladies, too, especially those who had been with her
for many years, went on wearing deep shades of mourning, yearn-
ing for her as if their sadness should never heal and there should
never come a day when they might resign themselves [to her death].
But as he never went to visit any of his other ladies, they took
comfort in being constantly with him as they waited upon him.
Those women to whom over the years he had from time to time
taken a fancy, though he had never been seriously interested in
them, contrary to what one might expect on these lonely nights
when he slept alone, he treated with no special regard; even for
night duty he would summon this one and that one in great num-
bers, keeping them at a distance from his sleeping place.
9. Yosano Akiko, Akarumi e (1916; reprint, Sakka nojiden 3, Nihon Tosho Sentaa, 1994), 264-
65 (page citations are to the reprint edition).
126 CHAPTER SIX
Akiko translates:
Onnatachi mo Murasaki no Kimi ni nagaku tsukawarete ita mono wa,

mina haru ni nattemo mada koi iro no mofuku o nuganaide iru. Sorera
no hito wa Genji no Kimi ga dare no goten e mo oide ni narazu ni,
itsumo koko ni oide ni naru no o sabishii kanashii naka no tanomi to mo
shite iru rashii. Naka ni wa Genji no Kimi to shujil no kankei igai no
kankei no aru onna nado mo majitte ita ga, sono hitora e mo Genji no
Kimi wa sappari to shitasoburi o misete oide ni natta. Yoru mo darekare
to ikunin mo ikunin mo o-nedoko ni chikai tokoro e hanashi no togi ni
o-oki ni naru no de atta. (945-46)
None of the women who had served Murasaki for a long time,
even though spring had come, removed their dark-colored mourn-
ing garments. As Genji did not visit anyone else's mansion, these
people seemed to draw some strength in their loneliness and sad-
ness from the fact that he was always there. Among them were
some women who had a relationship with Genji other than the
relationship of retainer to him. Even toward these people, Genji
displayed the most scrupulous behavior. For even at night, he
would station several of them, this one and that, at a place near
his bed as conversation companions.
Here again, what might seem blemishes in Genji's character are

touched up or glossed over. In Murasaki's text, Genji no longer visits
"his other ladies" {on-katagata), whereas in Akiko's version it is "no
one else's mansion" {dare no goten e mo); and the women "he had from
time to time taken a fancy to" {tokidoki wa mihanatanu yd ni oboshitari-
tsuru hitobito) are transformed rather clumsily into "women who had
a relationship with Genji other than the relationship of retainer to
him" {Genji no Kimi to shuju no kankei igai no kankei no aru onna). She
seems at a loss, however, for a polite equivalent to the sort of loneli-
ness Genji experiences now that he is sleeping alone {sabishiki on-
hitorine ni narite wa) and simply cuts the reference to this condition.
The description of Genji stationing his conversation partners "near
his bed" {o-nedoko ni chikai tokoro e) seems only a careless error, for the
original clearly indicates that he keeps them at a distance {omashi no
atari hikisaketsutsu saburawasetamau). Thus far, however, she alters
nothing more drastically than what we have seen in previous passages*
The original continues:
Tsurezure naru mama ni, inishie no monogatari nado shitamau oriori
mo ari. Nagori naki on-hijirigokoro no fukaku nariyuku ni tsuketemo,
sashimo arihatsumajikarikeru koto ni tsuketsutsu, nakagoro monoura-

meshu oboshitaru keshiki no tokidoki mietamaishi nado o oboshiizuru
ni, nadote, tawabure nitemo, mata mameyaka ni kokorogurushiki koto
ni tsuketemo, sayo naru kokoro o mietatematsuriken, nanigoto ni mo
rorbjiku owaseshi on-kokorobae narishikaba, hito no fukaki kokoro mo
itoyo mishiritamainagara, enjihatetamau koto wa nakarishikado, hito-
watari zutsu wa, ika naramu to suran, to oboshitarishi ni, sukoshi nitemo
kokoro o midaritamaikemu koto no itoshu kuyashu oboetamau sama,
muneyori mo amaru kokochi shitamau. Sono ori no koto no kokoro o mo
shiri, ima mo chiko tsukomatsuru hitobito wa, honobono kikoeizuru mo
art. (4:508-9; S 723-24)
Time and again, in his tedium, he would talk of the past. As he
became, with no regrets, more and more deeply austere, and he
recalled how at times in those days she had shown feelings of re-
sentment over affairs he had no intention of pursuing to the end,
he wondered why he had displayed such sentiments, whether frivo-
lous or painfully amorous in a genuine way. Being a person of
mature judgment in all things, she could see perfectly well what
his deeper feelings were, and her anger never went to extremes;
but on every such occasion she did worry how things would turn
out. And the pity and regret he now felt for even the slightest
distress [he had caused her] seemed more than his breast could
contain. There were people who had known of his affairs on those
occasions, and now waited upon him closely, who sometimes made
veiled references to them.
Akiko's translation reads:

Seijin no yd na seikatsu ni ippo ippo haitte o-yuki ni naru ni tsukete,
naki hito to gojishin to no koi ga ko made majime na mono de aru koto
wa, mukashi mo kawari no nai shinjitsu de atta ga, ari no susabi ni
suginai koi no tawamure de sono hito ni oku uramareta to iu koto o
tsukuzuku to o-kanji ni naru. Sono toki no gojishin no shiwaza mo
kokai sareru koto wa iu made mo nai ga, sono hito wa shinaidemo it
torikoshiguro o, dono onna no dono baai ni mo ichido zutsu fukakufukaku
suru hito de atta nado to mo o-omoi ni natta. Sonna baai o shitte, Mura-
saki no Kimi ni dojo shite ita onnatachi wa, sonna hanashi o sore to
naku mochidashi nado mo suru no de atta. (946-47)
As step by step he entered upon the life of a saintly ascetic, the
constancy of his own love for the departed one remained, to the
aforementioned extent, a fact unchanged from of old. Yet he was
painfully aware that on account of his frivolous love affairs, which
had never been more than passing fancies, he had been greatly
resented by that person. That he regretted his deeds on those oc-
casions goes without saying; still, it did seem to him that she had
been one to search too deeply for worries—concerning each and
every woman and affair—worries that she might well have spared
128 CHAPTER SIX
herself. Women who knew of these affairs and sympathized with

Murasaki would sometimes hint at such matters in an oblique way
in conversation.
Akiko's protective tendencies here become positively reckless. In the

original, Murasaki is described as "a person of mature judgment in all
things" who "could see perfectly well what [Genji's] deeper feelings
were" (nanigoto ni mo rorojiku owaseshi on-kokorobae narishikaba, hito no
fukaki kokoro mo itoyo mishiritamainagarri). Even so, she could not but
"worry how things would turn out" (ika naramu to suran, to oboshita-
rishi), and Genji, in retrospect, regrets "even the slightest distress"
{sukoshi nitemo kokoro o midaritamaikemu koto) he may have caused her
on those occasions.
In her translation, Akiko alters this description in two highly
significant particulars. She omits completely the reference to Mura-
saki's wisdom; and she recasts Genji's thoughts so that Murasaki be-
comes, in his view, not so much a woman wronged as "one to search
too deeply for worries . . . that she might well have spared herself
(shinaidemo ii torikoshiguro o . . . fukaku fukaku suru hito). Such exten-
sive alterations cannot be the result of misinterpretation. In a manner
that seems almost purposeful, Akiko shifts the weight of the blame
for Murasaki's pain from Genji to Murasaki herself. Not only are the
man's failings minimized, the anguish that they cause is dismissed as
undue agitation on the woman's part. The emphasis of her translation
thus stands in almost direct opposition to that of the original. Yet it
coincides almost precisely with the attitude of the "Akiko" oiAkarumi
e toward her "Genji."
In Akarumi e we see Kyoko beset by fears that her husband is
in love with another woman. TSru's failings and Kyoko's anguish are
vividly described, only to be undercut by his declaration of innocence,
and Kyoko's subsequent realization that her apprehension has been
misplaced. Her jealous imaginings turn out to have been no more
than torikoshiguro', "worries that she might well have spared herself."10
When we link these two texts back to the letter, there emerges
what appears to be a triangular perspective upon a single concern:
10. Ibid., 151.

TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHINTAKU GENJI MONO GATARI 129
how to cope with a promiscuous spouse. The letter articulates the

problem ("You won't do this, will you?"), the novel shows the woman
making the psychological adjustments that will allow her to live with
the problem ("You didn't do this, did you?"), and the translation elic-
its from the man assurances that those adjustments are entirely ap-
propriate ("You know I never meant it, don't you?"). A real problem
exists in the real world; a solution is sought in the world of a fiction.
Proof positive is unattainable; but our conjecture, that Akiko's identi-
fication of Tekkan/Hiroshi with Genji may be the root cause of her
libertine translations, no longer seems merely suppositions.
We must not ask too much of any of these texts. No one of

them in isolation would point to such a conclusion. Some—the po-
ems and the novel—however factual, reserve the right to fabricate
without prior warning. And the translations cited here represent but
a small sampling of the fifty-four chapters of Genji. Drawn into con-
catenation, however, these texts yield a pattern in which each succes-
sive addition meshes neatly with those already in place, and adds some
new detail to the emerging design.
At the outset we are aware only of Akiko's avowal, reiterated
throughout her career, of a strong identification with the writer Mura-
saki Shikibu and her art. We then notice extensions of that identifica-
tion to Murasaki the widow and even to the fictional Murasaki. Yet
such extensions seem hardly unnatural in a writer as steeped in the
classics as Akiko was. But what of her repeated distortions of Murasaki's
text, all seemingly directed to a single end, the obfuscation of Genji's
flaws? Noting that her identification with Genji includes, naturally
enough, identifying her husband with the Shining Genji, we begin to
wonder if her minimizing the flaws of Murasaki's Genji might not be
the result of a deflected urge to minimize theflawsof her own "Genji."
The congruence of attitudes expressed in her novel and her transla-
tion of the passage from 'Maboroshi' seem strongly to corroborate
this surmise. In the end we realize that the identification of which
Akiko herself speaks so often touches many more aspects of her life
than she mentions, that it is a negotiation between art and life of ex-
treme complexity. We see, too, the degree to which this transforms
130 CHAPTER SIX
the act of translation, for Akiko, from the mere transposition of words
into something verging upon, as she herself put it, "writing Genji."
Nor does the complexity of the negotiation end here. One
naturally wonders what form it might take in Akiko's second and final
translation, her Shin-shindyaku Genji monogatari. The answer is: there
is no trace of it whatsoever. Every omission in the foregoing passages
from 'Hahakigi,' 'Hana no En,' 'Aoi,' and 'Maboroshi' is fully and
accurately filled, every distortion set right. Genji's attempted seduc-
tion of Utsusemi, his predatory meanderings following the Cherry
Blossom Feast, his preemptory appropriation of the Oborozukiyo lady,
his delight in her fear of him; and on the other hand his unmitigated
remorse after the death of Murasaki—all are duly and explicitly re-
ported. And the child Murasaki no longer weeps "hot tears" after her
defloration. It is as if Akiko's elaborate and extended project of pro-
tecting Genji had been the work of an entirely different author.
Still one last question nags: How did someone who knew The
Tale of Genji as well as Akiko did, indeed loved (and lived in) Genji as
much as she did, bring herself to distort the novel as she did? The
answer is almost certainly comprehended in the question. Seen strictly
as a literary act, her tampering with the text she purports to translate
must seem an act of infidelity to her author, a failure to keep faith
with her readers, a disappointment to her admirers. Viewed in the
context of a larger life, private as well as literary, these distortions
appear in a different light. The poem cited as the first epigraph to
this chapter acquires a whole new layer of meaning when read with an
awareness of the strength of Akiko's identification with the women of
Genji. No longer is it only a reader's recollection of that famous scene
in which the Minister of the Right discovers his daughter in bed with
Genji;11 now one sees Akiko herself in it as well, savoring the memory
of that exciting (and mortifying) situation as if she had experienced it
in person. And the second epigraph can have but a single subject, a
woman with long and bitter experience of her Genji, who nonetheless
has yet to abandon her fantasy.12
11. In the 'Sakaki' (The Sacred Tree) chapter, 2:136-38; S 211-13.

12. For an extended discussion of this poem, see Ichikawa Chihiro, "Yosano Akiko no kotenteki
eiho ni tsuite," Namiki no sato, no. 46 (June 1997): 3-4.
TEXTUAL MALFEASANCE IN SHINYAKU GENJIMONOGATARI 131
It is precisely this, I think, the totality with which she inhab-

ited the world of Genji and the lives of its characters, that conduced
so easily—probably even unconsciously—to her conflation of the
worlds of fiction and fact. We gain a fuller understanding of Akiko,
therefore, if we view her textual malfeasance in this translation not
simply as lapses from literary fidelity, but as poignant evidence of the
passion and pervasiveness of her involvement with Genji.
Chapter Seven:
Akiko's Last Genjis
I understand people are saying that I might become a lecturer at

Nitobe-san's university [Tokyo Joshi Daigaku]; but of course I've
declined the offer and devote all of my energy to writing. . . . For
one thing, I expect that I shall be somewhat more highly regarded
if I take up the lectureship after I have finished writing [my com-
mentary on] Genji.
(Letter to Kobayashi [Masaharu] and Yuko, 16 March 1918)
Seven years ago, in the autumn, I suddenly resolved that come

what may, I must make the time to fulfill my responsibility to re-
translate Genji. I began writing immediately, and I continued writ-
ing; I hurried on lest what was left of my life be over before I
should finish.
("Afterword," Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatart, 1939)
Following the publication of her Shin'yaku Genji monogatari

in 1912-13, Akiko's reputation as an authority on the Japanese clas-
sics continued to grow. This chapter will trace Akiko's professional en-
gagement with The Tale of Genji through the remaining years of her life.
Unfortunately nothing further can be added to the brief ac-
count in chapter four of Akiko's modern versions of Eiga monogatari,
Murasaki Shikibu nikki, and Izumi Shikibu nikki, which she translated
immediately after completing the Shin'yaku. The corporate records
of the Kanao family, containing all of Akiko's correspondence on these
matters, were lost to floods in postwar Kyoto. Prior to this time, un-
fortunately, no scholar or biographer had been sufficiently interested
in Akiko's work on Genji and the classics to consult them. And, al-
though these projects must have occupied a great deal of her time,
Akiko herself left little record of the work. In the afterword to her
first translation she does note that
132
AKIKO'S LAST GENJIS 13 3
[i]n order to read The Tale of Genjii it is necessary to understand

the Heian court and the lives of the nobility which formed its back-
ground. Therefore, following upon the present work, I have turned
my attention to a new translation of Eiga monogatari, a realistic
novel (shajitsu shosetsu) which takes the history of that period as its
subject.1
But this is all we are told. The circumstances of the writing and mar-
keting of these translations must therefore remain something of a
mystery.
Throughout the Taishd period, Akiko continued to work on a
Genji commentary she had begun in 1909 at the instigation of Kobaya-
shi Masaharu, whose pen name was Tenmin (1877-1956). Tenmin and
Hiroshi first met when the latter traveled to Osaka in the summer of
1900 to lecture to the Kansai Seinen Bungakkai (Kansai Young Men's
Literary Association), of which Tenmin was a member. Although Ten-
min seems not to have met Akiko until the autumn of the following
year, just after her move to Tokyo, some of her earliest poetry had
appeared in the literary magazines Yoshiashigusa, founded July 1897,
and its successor Kansai bungaku, founded August 1900, both of which
he had helped to edit and publish.2 Like other "literary youths" of his
time, he published several short stories, but the money for his pa-
tronage of the Yosanos was earned as a successful wholesaler of blan-
kets, a business he founded in 1899 at Shinsaibashi in Osaka.3 It was
the fortuitous removal of his residence to Kyoto in the spring of 1923
that saved the letters Hiroshi and Akiko had written him from almost
certain destruction in the American bombing raids of World War II,
thus preserving the primary source for any account of his relation-
ship with the Yosanos.
Tenmin had helped to make up the losses incurred in publish-
ing Myojo since its inception.4 Casting about for a way to continue his
(Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13), 4:6.
2. Ueda Ayako and Itsumi Kumi, eds., Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshil: Tenmin bunko zo (Yagi
Shoten, 1983), i-ii. Hereafter, page numbers are cited in the text.
3. Fujita Fukuo, "Shinshisha no patoron Kobayashi Tenmin," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kyozai
no kenkyu 9.15 (December 1964): 137.
4. Ibid., 135. Miyamoto Masaaki, '"Maboroshi no Akiko Genji' to Tenmin Kobayashi Masa-
haru," Ube kokubun kenkyu, no. 24 (August 1993): 2, 5.
134 CHAPTER SEVEN
support of the Yosanos after the magazine ceased publication in 1908,

he hit upon the idea of commissioning a commentary on Genji. Hav-
ing obtained their agreement, he arranged to send a sum of money
each month, nominally in payment for installments of Akiko's com-
mentary.5
In her initial letter of September 1909 discussing the terms of
the sponsorship, Akiko herself seems unsure how best to describe the
work, calling it a "commentary or an exposition of Genji" (Genji no
chushaku nariya koginariya). She explains her conception of the project
and her finances as follows:
Firstly, for a good deal of the present kana text of Genji, (many)
Chinese characters would be substituted to make it easier to read;
and the many mistakes in punctuation would be put right (both of
these would be done by Hiroshi).6
To it, we would add a commentary many times larger than
Mr. Ochiai's in the Complete Works;7 and together with this, illus-
trations would be inserted to complete the book. If it were to be
something along these lines, I believe I could undertake the job at
the remuneration and within the time period you graciously sug-
gest
At this point I shall explain our finances frankly. Every month
we require one hundred and thirty yen (including monthly install-
ment payments). Our regular income is about seventy yen.8 I do
work for the Mancho, the Niroku [shinpo] the Miyako [shinbun],
Chiigakusekai, Shojo no tomo,Joshi bundan, Osaka Mainichi, and Tokyo
Mainichi? but if I cannot find about another twenty-five yen's
worth of work every month we cannot make ends meet, and so I
have to write extra fiction (shosetsu), essays, children's stories and
5. Kobayashi Tenmin, "Akiko Genji ni tsuite," Uzu 4.2 (February 1956): 1-3. I am grateful to
the anonymous employee of Kuramadera who kindly sent me this issue of Uzu.
6. Akiko indicates here that Hiroshi will shoulder some of the work, but the actual extent of
his involvement is unclear. While he was often the one who wrote to apologize for de-
lays, he usually referred to the project as that of his wife.
7. The five volume edition of Genji edited by Hagino Yoshiyuki, Ochiai Naobumi, and
Konakamura Yoshikata and published 1890-91 by Hakubunkan in their Nihon bungaku
zensbo.
8. At this time primary school teachers began on a salary often yen per month and first-year
civil servants earned a minimum of fifty yen per month. A small free-standing house in
Tokyo's Itabashi ward cost around three yen a month to rent. Source: Nedanshi nenpyo:
Meiji, Taisho, Sbowa, ed. Shukan Asahi (Asahi Shinbunsha, 1988).
9. For details of this work, see the notes in Ueda and Itsumi, Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshu,
22-23.
AKIKOJS LAST GENJIS 13 5
such. I can do the regular work in about twelve days. The other
eighteen days I should have to give over entirely to the [Genji]
commentary. Therefore, I would like to set the amount of the spon-
sorship you have kindly offered at twenty yen per installment.
I wish to undertake this project on the assumption that it will
be my whole life's work (watakushi issho nojigyo). Be that as it may,
since we have decided that the time period will be one hundred
months, that will mean, I think, a fee of 2000 yen for the manu-
script. (20-21)
For a time, then, Akiko worked simultaneously on both the

commentary and the 1912-13 Shin'yaku. Since Akiko notes in her
afterword to the Shin'yaku that she had begun working on the trans-
lation in January 1911, and since her letter accepting the terms of
Tenmin's proposal was written in September 1909, we must assume
that when Kanao came to her with Uchida Roan's suggestion for a
modern translation of Genji, she was already engaged in work on the
Genji commentary. There is also the evidence of Hiroshi's letter to
Tenmin dated 9 August [1910] which concludes with a frankness that
borders on the brutal:
Akiko sends her regards. She will be able to send last month's in-
stallment of the Genji commentary tomorrow. She has been un-
dergoing treatment for caries, and since she has had eighteen teeth
extracted, she is exhausted and is running late with the fair copy.
(24)
Neither Akiko nor Hiroshi ever mention the Shin'yaku translation—

neither its progress nor its eventual publication—to Tenmin. That
she decided to take on the project regardless of her previous commit-
ment to Tenmin is one indication of how desperately she needed what-
ever income the translation might bring in.10
Akiko had firm ideas about the quality of existing commentar-
ies on Genji, and was determined that hers would be superior. In a
short piece she wrote for Waseda bungaku in 1910, she mentions
10. Akiko's desire that Kanao spend money advertising the Shin'yaku rather than buying her a
lavish kimono, noted in chapter four, p. 80, suggests that she was paid not by the page,
nor a lump sum for the manuscript, but a percentage of whatever profits the Shin 'yaku
produced.
136 CHAPTER SEVEN
Tenmin's sponsorship of her work and then fairly explodes with

indignation:
Just how many readers have been misled by earlier commentaries

on The Tale ofGenji I have no idea! The present printed edition of
Kogetsusho draws extensively from the annotations of other works;
but every one of these annotations is as much as eighty-percent
mistaken. There mustn't have been any scholars in the past fully
capable of reading Genji. Even the scrupulous commentary in the
venerable Motoori Norinaga's Tama no ogushi is about twenty-per-
cent mistaken. Notwithstanding the plethora of historical data that
they cite, all of it irrelevant to the novel The Tale ofGenji [shosetsu
de aru Genji monogatari], these earlier scholars are shockingly ig-
norant of the facts of the Heian period. . . . Moreover, when it
comes to misinterpretation of the text, I discover at least thirty or
forty cases per chapter. . . . In recent years I have been advising
everyone to stay away from misleading commentaries and recom-
mending that they read unannotated editions of Genji. (14:46-47)
It would seem that Akiko meant her commentary to be the one anno-
tated text of Genji she could confidently recommend to others.
Tenmin proved a generous and forbearing friend. Their cor-
respondence reveals that although he paid in advance, more often than
not Akiko was late with an installment, or unable to do any work at all
on the project for months at a time. By March 1918 the hundred
months was up but the commentary was only half finished (199). In
the eight years since she had begun work on the commentary she had
given birth six times: in 1910, 1911, 1913, 1915, 1916, and 1917. Af-
ter the complicated delivery of twins in February 1911 she had con-
fessed to Tenmin, "I cannot but pray that next year at least, there
shall be no birth" (37). During these same eight years, she also pub-
lished eight collections of poetry, eight volumes of essays, three col-
lections of children's stories, her novel Akarumi e, a collection of short
stories and, of course, her modern language translations of Eiga
monogatarij Murasaki Shikibu nikki and Izumi Shikibu nikki, and
Tsurezuregusa.
But Akiko would not—could not—give up the project. Nitobe
Inazo (1862-1933), founding principal of Tokyo Women's Christian
University (Tokyo Joshi Daigaku), had invited her to become a lec-
turer at the school, but as she wrote to Tenmin, she had "of course"
AKIKO'S LAST GENJIS 137
declined, because she wanted to concentrate on the Genji commen-

tary, and because she felt that as a lecturer she would be better recog-
nized if she "finished writing Genji first" (203-4). Hiroshi estimated
that Akiko would need another four or five years to complete the work
(202). Then Akiko wrote to say that henceforward she would prepare
double the number of manuscript pages each month (206). Tenmin
responded by increasing his sponsorship from twenty to fifty yen per
installment (210).
Anxious to revise what she had completed so far, Akiko had
asked Tenmin to bring her a year's worth of manuscript whenever he
came up to Tokyo. Somehow she would find the time to rewrite it,
over and above the regular monthly installment (199). Tenmin com-
plied with her request; and so it happened that the entire manuscript
was in Tokyo, stored at the Bunka Gakuin, when fires engulfed the
city after the earthquakes of 1 September 1923.
Three days later, on 4 September, Hiroshi wrote to Tenmin
and told him what had transpired. The letter begins abruptly:
Kanda, Nihonbashi, Kyobashi, eighty percent of Kojimachi,

Asakusa, Shitaya, Honjo, Fukagawa and elsewhere has burnt to
the ground. My wife's Genji manuscript, having caused you noth-
ing but trouble, was completely burnt along with the Bunka
Gakuin. (361)
The work of fourteen years had been reduced to ashes. This essential
information imparted, Hiroshi's letter continues with a poignant ap-
peal for help:
Greetings
Owing to the conflagration which followed upon the great
earthquake, seventy percent of the entire city of Tokyo is scorched
earth; fifty or sixty thousand people are said to have died in the
disaster. Fortunately for my family, the wind changed direction
about half a cho [approximately fifty-four meters] from our house
and we were spared from the fire. None of us was injured; two
nights we took refuge on the embankment of the moat at
Ushigome. . . .
At the moment it is difficult to obtain goods without ready
cash and we are short of food, candles and such. All the banks
have burnt down and so it is impossible to make withdrawals. Thus
138 CHAPTER SEVEN
we have no financial recourse in Tokyo. I am sorry to trouble you,

but in view of the above, would you be so kind as to send about
three hundred [yen] in cash in order to get us through this des-
perate situation? If it is not possible to send it by postal transfer,
might I ask you to send someone from Nagoya to Nagano and
thence in on the Shin'etsu line?11
Postal service having just now resumed, for the moment I beg
of you the foregoing.
In haste. . .(361-62)
Curiously, Akiko herself wrote nothing to Tenmin about the loss

of her manuscript. Perhaps there was nothing she could say. Instead, she
described her devastation in the two poems translated below:
Juyonen waga kakitameshi soko no

ato arubeshi ya gakuin no hat. (5:40)
My manuscript, the accumulated writing of more than ten years:
is there no trace of it to be found in the ashes of the school?
Ushinaishi ichimanmai no soko no

onna to narite kitari nagekuyo. (4:574)
Ten thousand pages of manuscript lost.
Such a woman have I become, I lament through the night.
For the time being, Akiko's lectures on Genji at the Bunka Gakuin
would have to compensate for the loss of her commentary. "At the
very least I want to offer [these lectures] to Murasaki Shikibu as a
token of my gratitude" (19:258), she wrote in 1926.
One often reads that Akiko translated Genji three times, but if
the single page of her commentary that has come down to us is repre-
sentative of the rest of the manuscript, her "second translation," as
this lost work is usually described, would seem not to have been a
translation at all. This page survives only because she forgot to in-
clude it in an installment she sent to Tenmin in April or May of 1914.
When she later discovered it she enclosed it in a letter of 11 May
1914 to Tenmin's wife Yuko. It seems not to have been placed with
11. The Shin'etsu line ran from Takasaki in Gunma prefecture through Nagano to Niigata.
Hiroshi presumably meant to go out to Takasaki and collect the money.
the manuscript itself but remained with her letter.12 The page con-
sists of extremely short quotations (sho) from the text of Genji, each
marked by a circle, and followed by Akiko's commentary. The quota-
tions are from the section of the 'Usugumo' (A Rack of Cloud) chap-
ter in which Genji's return to the Nijo-in with the Akashi princess
and her nurse is described (2:425; S 334), and Akiko's comments in-
clude, for example, the following sentence:
Tada sae sabishiki sanso ni he, aisuru ko ni wakaretaru hito no kono
goro no kanashimi wa ika bakari naran to, saru kokoromochi ni nari-
itamau toki wa kurushimi o mo Genji wa mune ni oboeitamaedo,
mainichi kaneteyori no riso no gotoku ni hime o kyoiku nashiyukitamau
koto wa, soai no hito to tomo ni aru ue ni sara ni kofuku no atsumari
kitarishi kan no nasaruru koto naru beshi to iu nari. (109)
The passage says: how sad must she be now, all alone in an iso-
lated mountain villa, parted from her beloved child, and when he
realized this, Genji was filled with pain; but inasmuch as he might
now devote his days to educating the Princess according to his
long-cherished ideals, and, moreover, be with the person who loved
him as he loved her [i.e. Murasaki no ue], his happiness could only
increase.
Apart from a sprinkling of recently coined nouns (riso, soai), her ex-
tant comments are in a language that can only be called classical. Just
as she had adopted the genbunHtchi style for her shosetsu version of
Genji, so, for her commentary, a classical style seemed the appropri-
ate choice. The extant fragment reveals a work that is part paraphrase,
part summary; but of course we shall never know how she would have
molded this into a "commentary," as she always called it.
Akiko also continued to receive poetic commissions. In his
memoir En naki tokei (A Doomed Timepiece) Yosano Shigeru recalls
how Takita Choin (1882-1925), editor of Child koron, came to the
family house late in 1918 or 1919 and commissioned a set of poems
that Akiko later published under the title Genji monogatari raisan (In
Praise of The Tale of Genji).13 The Raisan poems did not appear in
12. A photograph of this page appears at the beginning of Shokanshu. The text is printed and
discussed in Ueda and Itsumi, Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshu, 108-9.
13. Yosano Shigeru, En naki tokei (Saika Shobo, 1948), 210-13. For a fuller account of the
Raisan poems, see G. G. Rowley, "Yosano Akiko's Poems 'In Praise of The Tale of Genji',"
Monumenta Nipponica, forthcoming.
140 CHAPTER SEVEN
print until 1922, but following their first publication Akiko was able
to raise 350 yen for the running expenses of Myojo, relaunched in
November 1921, through the sale of an album of the Raisan poems in
her own hand.14 Akiko later added twenty-one poems on topics from
Eiga monogatari and five more on topics from Heike monogatari; and
under the title "Emaki no tame ni" (For a Picture-scroll) she included
them all in her poetry collection Ryusei no michi (Path of a Shooting
Star, 1924).15 In later years, the Raisan poems were also sold as scrolls
and tanzaku.16
We might note in passing that the sale of tanzaku seems to
have been an important source of income for the Yosano family The
day before she gave birth, in her forty-first year, to their thirteenth
and as it turned out their last child Fujiko,17 Akiko prepared no less
than three hundred tanzaku of her poems. A month later she explained:
I feel a responsibility to prepare for [each] birth by building up

some material security with my own efforts. I am also aware that I
may die in childbirth, and so with that risk uppermost in my mind,
even a woman as weak as myself feels a tension of body and soul
that enables her to work with heightened efficiency. (18:69)
There is something close to appalling in the starkness of her explana-

tion and her uncomplaining acceptance of the reasons for her phe-
nomenal capacity to produce. But of course she could not afford to be
otherwise: she had to cope with the daily demands of children and dead-
lines, leaving Hiroshi with time to brood over what might have been.
14. Shinma Shin'ichi, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari" in Genji monogatari to sono eikyo:
kenkyil to shiryo—kodai bungaku ronso dairokushu, ed. Murasaki Shikibu Gakkai (Musashino
Shoin, 1978), 277. Genji monogatari raisan was first published in Myojo, 2d ser., 1.3 (Janu-
ary 1922): 3-8.
15. For a detailed discussion of the Eiga poems, see Sato Motoko, "Eiga monogatari to Yosano
Akiko—'saiwa' toshite no 'Emaki no tame ni' shusai tanka—," Sbitennoji Kokusai Bukkyo
Daigaku Bungakubu kiyo, no. 15 (1982): 47-66.
16. See the photographs in Sumi, no. 78 (May-June 1989): 22, 23, 32. Tanzaku are long, nar-
row pieces of stiff paper on which poems are inscribed.
17. Fujiko was born on 31 March 1919. Only in 1939 did she discover that she was not named
after Fujitsubo, as she had thought, but after Murasaki Shikibu herself. "'You didn't know?'
Mother's face said. 'Well, at first, Murasaki Shikibu was known as To [the fuji of Fujiwara]
Shikibu, so that's why.'" Mori Fujiko, Midaregami (Rukkusha, 1967), 249.
AKIKO'S LAST GENjfIS 141
After the complete destruction of Akiko's Genji commentary

in September 1923, it was nearly a decade before she was able to sum-
mon the strength to begin a second translation of Genji. In the mean-
time she was, as ever, far from idle. At some point, most likely during
the period of 1915-27, Akiko composed a seventy-page digest of The
Tale of Genji that has only recently been printed.18 The manuscript is
undated, but clearly it was intended for publication, zsfurigana read-
ings are given for each kanji. Ikeda Toshio, the scholar who first re-
vealed the existence of the manuscript, attempts to date it in various
ways. In that the handwriting does not appear to be that of a young
person, the work would seem to be a product of Akiko's latter years;
yet comparison of the vocabulary of the digest with her first and sec-
ond translations of Genji suggests the opposite, for the digest more
closely resembles the Shin'yaku. In the end, it is the paper on which
the digest is written that provides the most reliable evidence. Ikeda
traces the squared manuscript paper to a stationer in Kagurazaka, only
a short distance from where the Yosanos lived at Fujimi-cho in Tokyo's
Kojimachi ward from 1915 until 1927. As it seems unlikely that Akiko
would have continued to patronize the Kagurazaka stationer after their
move west to Ogikubo in September 1927, Ikeda's tentative conclu-
sion is that the digest is a product of the Fujimi-chd years.19
The style of the digest is confidently terse: Akiko is princi-
pally concerned with events, rarely pausing to comment on emotions.
Translation of one of the shorter chapters may convey something of
the effect of her reduction of Genji to pure plot. Her summary of the
'Hana no En' chapter is as follows:
Genji no Kimi hatachi no haru no nigatsu nijuikunichi ni Shishinden

de koyo [sic] no gyoen ga atta. Sakushi no asobi ni oite tensai Genji no
Kimi no shiga kosai o hanachi, Shun'oden no mai ni Genji no Kimi no
18. That is, seventy pages of 400-character genkoyoshi (squared manuscript paper). It has been
published as Kogai Genji monogatari (Yokohama: Tsurumi Daigaku, 1993). For details of
the physical appearance of the digest and a discussion of the contents of the work to-
gether with illustrative examples, see Ikeda Toshio's "Kaisetsu" to the foregoing, a re-
vised version of his "Yosano Akiko no soko nidai," Tsurumi Daigaku kiyo, no. 21 (Febru-
ary 1984): 131-46.
19. Ikeda Toshio, "Kaisetsu," 4, 12-15.
142 CHAPTER SEVEN
myogi wa hito o ewashimeta. En ga owatte hitobito wa taisan shita no

de aru ga, Genji no Kimi wa eigokochi ni, moshi ya kikai ga jibun o
shite koishii hito ni awaseru no de wa nai ka to iu yd na koto o omotte
Fujitsubo no soto made itta no de aru ga, mono o ii-ireru yd na to no
sukima mo nakatta. Kokiden no chikaku e itte miru to nyogo [sic] wa
Seiryoden no o-tonoi ni agatta rusu-rashikute shizuka de atta. Nobotte
itte aita san no kuchi to iu tokoro kara naka o nozoite iru to, wakakute
utsukushii kifujin da to Genji no Kimi ga chokkaku de kanjiru yd na
hito ga "Oborozukiyo ni shiku mono zo nakin to kuchizusaminagara
dete kita. Sode o toraeta toki ni odoroita onna wa, ma mo naku aite no
nanibito de aru ka o satotta. Soshite onna wa mi ni sashisematte iru aru
unmei o nikumu kokoro ni wa narenakatta. Jdjintachi wa wakareru
toki ni na mo iwazu ni ogi dake o torikaeta no de aru ga, onna wa
Udaijin no musume no Roku no Kimi de, Kokiden no nyogo [sic] no
imoto de atte, Togu no kdkyu ni hairu hazu no hito de atta.20
In the spring of Genji's twentieth year, sometime after the twenti-
eth of the second month, there was a cherry blossom viewing feast
at the Shishinden. In the composing of Chinese poems, the poem
of the talented Genji radiated brilliance; and in the dancing of the
Spring Warbler, the consummate performance of Genji bewitched
his audience.
The feast ended, and people went their separate ways; but
Genji, being intoxicated, and thinking that chance might allow
him to meet the woman he loved, went as far as the outside of the
Fujitsubo, but there was not so much as a crack of an opening in a
door through which he might send in a message. When he passed
near the Kokiden, it was quiet, as it appeared that the consort was
spending the night in the Seiryoden and was not present. When
he mounted the stairs, and peered in from the open third door, a
person whom Genji sensed intuitively to be a beautiful young
noblewoman appeared, chanting, "naught to compare with a night
of a misty moon." The woman, who was shocked when he took
her sleeve, realized immediately who her partner was. Nor could
this woman bring herself to resent the fate that now beset her.
When the lovers parted, they did not speak their names, but
only exchanged fans. The woman was the sixth daughter of the
Minister of the Right and a younger sister of the Kokiden con-
sort; it was she who was to enter the women's quarters of the Crown
Prince.
The entire second half of 'Hana no En' is reduced to a single sen-

tence. Akiko is certainly not concerned to provide a comprehensive
account of Genji in the digest. The summary of the 'Maboroshi' chap-
20. Kogai Genji monogatari, 17-19 (photographic reproduction), 6 (transcription).

ter, to mention a further example, consists of no more than four po-

ems—Genji's seasonal meditations on loss—and a single-sentence
explanation of his preparations to leave the world. Ichikawa Chihiro
suggests in a recent study that the digest is similar in intent to Akiko's
Genji monogatari raisan poems, in which each chapter of Genji is pared
down to the events and emotions that most appeal to her.21 The 'Hana
no En' summary cited above certainly corroborates Ichikawa's obser-
vation. Her suggestion also points to a major difference between the
digest and the Raisan poems. Compare, for example, Akiko's 'Hana
no En' poem from the Raisan collection:
Haru noyo no moya ni yoitaru tsuki naran

tamakura kashinu waga karibushi ni. (4:324)
It must have been the moon, drunken in the spring night mist,
that lent me its arm to pillow my head as I lay dozing.
Whereas the Raisan poems tend to highlight some emotional aspect

of each chapter, it is precisely the absence of feeling from the digest
which is so very striking, giving the work something of the character
of an aide-memoire.
Despite the concision, however, Akiko maintains a conscious-
ness of rank that borders on the punctilious. Her attention to titles is
apparent not only in the passage quoted above, but throughout the
digest. As in her translations of Genji, she is also careful to distinguish
members of the imperial family from other characters with polite lan-
guage: when Genji sends Fujitsubo a poem in the 'Momiji no Ga'
chapter, the verb is o-okuri shita, but after he is made Jun-Daijo Tenno
in 'Fuji no Uraba,' his poems are on-uta, and all of his actions are
described with deferential forms. Occasionally this concern with dis-
tinctions leads to some odd locutions. In her summary of the 'Wakana
jo' (New Herbs: Part One) chapter, for example, she writes: Shujaku-
in [sic] ni wa o-yokata no himemiya ga o-ari ni natta (the retired emperor
Suzaku had four princesses),22 and: Sono aida niKiritsubo no Miyasudokoro
21. Ichikawa Chihiro, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari—sono gyoseki to 'kako ni asobu'
Akiko—," in Kindai no kyoju to kaigai to no koryu, ed. Imai Takuji et al., vol. 9 of Genji
monogatari koza series (Benseisha, 1992): 47-48.
22. Yosano, Kogai Genji monogatari, 75, 26.
144 CHAPTER SEVEN
wa Togu no miko o ikunin ka o-umi shita (during that time, the Akashi
princess bore the Crown Prince several children).23
In her hitherto published writings, Akiko herself gives no clue
as to why the digest is as it is and for whom it was written. We can
only hope that her correspondence, an edition of which is currently
in preparation, may provide answers to some of the many questions
that surround this work.
Akiko's participation in two other projects during the early

years of the Showa period provides further evidence of the respect
she now commanded as an authority on The Tale of Genji. The first
was her work as editor of the Nihon koten zenshu series; the second,
her provision of a preface for a monograph on Genji by a scholar from
the National Literature world.
In October 1925, Akiko and Hiroshi joined Masamune Atsuo
(1881-1958) in editing the Nihon koten zenshu series.24 Sold by sub-
scription, the series seems to have attracted considerable interest.
Following the appearance of advertisements in Myojo and other pub-
lications late in 1925, the editors were swamped with more than three
times the number of applications they had anticipated. The popular-
ity of the series gave the Yosanos financial leeway such as they had
never before enjoyed. By September of 1927 they had been able to
put together enough money to rent a plot of land in Ogikubo, where
they built a house of their own to Akiko's design.25 With such success
came a workload that was daunting. Akiko wrote:
What with collating and correcting, every month my husband and

I check a thousand pages of text at least four times. In December,
23. Ibid., 78, 27. The event described is actually narrated in the 'Wakana ge' (New Herbs:
Part Two) chapter (4:158; S 592).
24. The following account is based on Shinma Shin'ichi, "Hiroshi, Akiko to Nihon koten zenshu"
Nihon kosho tsilshin 41.10 (October 1976): 2-3; and the Yosanos' correspondence with
Tenmin, collected in Shokanshu. Although Tenmin was not directly involved in the Nihon
koten zenshu project, the Yosanos continued to seek his advice (see, for example, Hiroshi's
letter to Tenmin in Ueda and Itsumi, Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshu, 412-13) and finan-
cial support.
25. Mori, Midaregami, 242; Yosano Hikaru, Akiko to Hiroshi no omoide (Kyoto: Shibunkaku
Shuppan, 1991), 139.
therefore, we were frequently busy with our brushes until three in

the morning. Moreover, on top of this I have duties at school [the
Bunka Gakuin], duties concerning Myojo, as well as other things
to write.26
Shinma suggests that one reason the Yosanos were keen to

launch the series despite the work it entailed may have been Hiroshi's
desire to take up where his teacher Ochiai Naobumi had left off years
before. Naobumi, as noted in chapter three, was one of the editors of
Hakubunkan's mid-Meiji Nihon bungaku zensho. Like many contem-
porary scholars of National Literature, Naobumi also wrote poetry,
and was a member of the Shinseisha (Society of New Voices) group
which, under the direction of Mori Ogai, published Omokage (Ves-
tiges, 1889), a collection of poems translated into Japanese from West-
ern languages. In 1893 Naobumi formed the Asakasha group (the
"Faint Scent Society," but named for the district of Tokyo in which
Naobumi lived), dedicated to the reform of poetry, and Hiroshi be-
came a member. Although he went on to found his own coterie of
poets, the Shinshisha, in 1899, Hiroshi remained a faithful disciple
and was present at Naobumi's deathbed in 1903. Akiko herself was
sufficiently moved to compose poems lamenting Naobumi's passing.27
So it may have been this link with one of the pioneers of the Meiji
period National Literature world that inspired the Yosanos to em-
bark upon the Nihon koten zenshu project.
Their involvement was, however, brief. For reasons that re-
main unclear, they resigned from the editorial team in 1928, midway
through publication of the second series.28 Perhaps, in the end, the
workload was beyond them—certainly for a time the series fell be-
hind schedule—or perhaps it was a clash over editorial policy that led
to the Yosanos' resignation. Whatever the reasons, their departure
was final: once Hiroshi and Akiko left the editorial team, their names
26. Cited in Shinma, "Hiroshi, Akiko to Nihon koten zenshu " 2.

27. Fukuda Kiyoto and Hamana Hiroko, Yosano Akiko, Hito to sakuhin series (Shimizu Shoin,
1968), 65-66.
28. A total of 264 volumes in six series were published by the Nihon Koten Zenshu KankSkai
between 1925 and 1944. A complete list of the contents of each volume can be found in
Shoshi Kenkyu Konwakai, ed., Zenshu sosho soran: shinteiban (Yagi Shoten, 1983), 629-
31.
146 CHAPTER SEVEN
were removed even from the title pages and the colophons of vol-
umes they had helped to produce, whenever these volumes were
reprinted.
Nevertheless, by the time of their resignation, together they
had edited more than fifty volumes of the classical canon, broadly
defined.29 Their selection was obviously influenced by Akiko's con-
viction, expressed in her afterword to the Shin'yaku, that in order to
understand the world of The Tale of Genji, one must read the collat-
eral literature of that period. Thus their "canon" included not only
all Heian period works by women, both major and minor, but also the
tenth century manual of herbal medicine Honzo wamyo (918), and
Fujiwara Michinaga's kanbun diary Mido kanpaku ki (completed be-
fore 1027), which to this day has yet to be included in any canon
compiled by National Literature scholars. Furthermore, the unsigned
introductions to the volumes containing Genji monogatari, Eiga monoga-
tari, and Mido kanpaku ki were almost certainly written by Akiko.30 At
the end of the introduction to the Genji volumes, an essay that was to
be entitled "Genji monogatari zakko" (Miscellaneous thoughts on The
Tale of Genji) and would discuss the authorship and compilation of
Genji, was promised for inclusion in the final volume.31 By the time
this volume appeared in July 1928, however, the Yosanos were no
longer part of the Nihon koten zenshu editorial team and, though Akiko
may have channeled the results of whatever research she had done for
the piece into other work, the essay was never written.
Late in 1927, just before their departure from the Nihon koten
zenshu project, Akiko was asked to provide a preface for a different
sort of work: Fujita Tokutard's Genji monogatari koyo, a "companion
guide" to Genji containing detailed summaries of each chapter; trans-
29. See Yosano Hiroshi, Masamune Atsuo, and Yosano Akiko, "Nihon koten zenshu kanko shushi,"
Myojo, 2d ser., 7.3 (September 1925): 130-31, for a twelve-point statement outlining the
editors' aims and their conception of the series.
30. The essays for the Eiga monogatari and the Mido kanpaku £/volumes are reprinted in Akiko
koten kansho, Yosano Akiko senshu series, vol. 4, ed. Yosano Hikaru and Shinma Shin'ichi
(Shunshusha, 1967).
31. Unsigned "Kaidai," in Genji monogatari I, Nihon koten zenshu series, ed. Yosano Hiroshi,
Masamune Atsuo, and Yosano Akiko (Nihon Koten Zenshu Kankokai, 1926), 8. Mention
of the proposed piece is also made in essays of Akiko's dated 1928 and 1935, where it is
called simply "Genji monogatari ko."
lations of sample passages into modern Japanese; a history of the de-

velopment of prose writing in the Heian period; a chronology; a list
of characters; and a bibliography. Her introduction to this solid accu-
mulation of scholarship from the National Literature world stands
alongside another shorter preface, by none other than Tokyo Univer-
sity lecturer Sasaki Nobutsuna. Although Sasaki refers to the author,
his former student, as "Fujita-kun," Akiko—perhaps because she had
not enjoyed the benefit of higher education—prefers the humility of
"Fujita Sensei," or "Fujita Bungakushi" (B.A.). In all other respects,
however, she and Sasaki here stand as equals in their endorsement of
the work of the younger scholar.
In the course of this piece, Akiko, with weary resignation,
makes mention of her own work on Genji:
Earlier, during the Taisho period, I began writing a complete com-

mentary [zenkohon] on Genji. After ten years' work I had got as far
as the Uji chapters, but as the manuscript was burnt in the Fires, I
was disinclined to take up my brush again and gave up.32
And at the very end of her preface she cannot resist adding the fol-
lowing abrupt comment:
I put Murasaki Shikibu's death at about Chowa 4 [1015]. There-

fore, I divide The Tale of Genji into two parts. In my opinion, the
first part, up to and including the 'Fuji no Uraba' chapter, was
written by Murasaki Shikibu, and the remaining second part is
the work of someone else. The author of the second part was Mura-
saki Shikibu's only daughter, who frequented the Uji villa of Re-
gent [Fujiwara no] Yorimichi (992-1074) and went by the name of
Daini no Sanmi. This is a view which differs from that of Fujita
Sensei, but whether there was one author or two does not make a
great difference to an appreciation of the text of Genji.^
That The Tale of Genji divides into two parts was an opinion
Akiko held firmly throughout her career and her first published state-
32. Yosano Akiko, "Genji monogatari koyo jo," in Fujita Tokutaro, Genji monogatari koyo
(Furokaku Shobo, 1928), 6-7. The same resignation is evident in an account of the loss
of the commentary in "Dokusho, mushiboshi, zosho," (1926, 19:258).
33. Yosano, "Genji monogatari koyo jo," 9.
148 CHAPTER SEVEN
ment of this theory is found in her afterword to the Shin'yaku. Only

later did she come to believe that these two parts represented the
work of two different authors of Genji, that the chapters from 'Kiritsu-
bo' to 'Fuji no Uraba' were by Murasaki Shikibu, and that the suc-
ceeding chapters—from 'Wakana' to 'Yume no Ukihashi' (The Float-
ing Bridge of Dreams)—were written by her daughter Daini no Sanmi.
Akiko does not say just when—or why—she was so persuaded, but
she notes her change of opinion in the afterword to her second trans-
lation.34 The summary of these ideas in her preface to Fujita's mono-
graph, dated New Year, Showa 3 (1928), coincides precisely with the
detailed exposition of her arguments in the "epoch-making"35 essay
"Murasaki Shikibu shinkS" (A New Study of Murasaki Shikibu) pub-
lished in the January and February 1928 issues of Taiyo.
This essay, Akiko's most famous work as a scholar of Genji, is
the culmination of more than fifteen years of research and rewriting.
The development of her ideas and the growing precision of her argu-
ment may be traced through essays from 1912 onward.36 When she
began writing about Murasaki Shikibu, Akiko was especially concerned
to counter the notion put forward in the genealogy Sonpibunmyaku,
repeated in the Kogetsusho, and propounded in her own time by Sassa
Seisetsu, that Murasaki was amorously involved with her patron Michi-
naga.37 A short piece entitled "Murasaki Shikibu no teiso ni tsuite"
(Concerning Murasaki Shikibu's Virtue) that she wrote in 1917 be-
gins on a note of outrage:
When I read that Dr. Sassa had cast doubt on Murasaki Shikibu's
virtue in a certain journal, for Murasaki Shikibu's sake I was un-
34. Yosano Akiko, "Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki," reprinted in Akiko koten kansho,
vol. 4 of Yosano Akiko senshu, ed. Yosano Hikaru and Shinma Shin'ichi (Shinshusha, 1967),
37-39. The complete afterword is translated in Appendix B.
35. Mitani Kuniaki, "Kaisetsu," Genji monogatari /, Nihon bungaku kenkyu shiryo sosho se-
ries (Yiiseido, 1969), 329.
36. See the list in Appendix A, beginning with "Genji monogatari ni arawaretaru hitobito,"
Shincho 16.5 (May 1912): 92-97. "Murasaki Shikibu shinko" can also be found in Akiko
koten kansho, 5-31, supplemented by many useful notes not to be found elsewhere.
37. In Sonpibunmyaku, Shintei zoho Kokushi taikei edition, ed. Kuroita Katsumi (Yoshikawa
Kobunkan, 1980), 2:54, Murasaki is described as the "mistress of Regent Michinaga"
(Mido kanpaku Michinaga no mekake). A similar description is given in the genealogy cited
in "Hottan," the first chapter of the Kogetsusho.
able to do other than protest this slander. It is rude of me to say

so, but I am of the opinion that Dr. Sassa's argument is utterly
without foundation. The primary sources for Murasaki Shikibu's
biography are the Murasaki Shikibu shu and the Murasaki Shikibu
nikki. If Dr. Sassa had read these two works carefully, he would,
on the contrary, be unable to do other than affirm Murasaki
Shikibu's virtue. (16:370)38
Over the years, the desire to defend Murasaki's "virtue" led

Akiko to marshal a wealth of biographical sources relating to the
woman she most admired. Oka Kazuo (1900-81), for one, explicitly
acknowledges his debt to this body of scholarship. In the preface to
his own "Basic Study of The Tale ofGenji" he writes, "concerning the
biography of Murasaki Shikibu, my research has, from the outset, owed
much to the venerable Ando Tameakira and Mrs. Yosano Akiko."39
In "Murasaki Shikibu shinkS," Akiko's case for dual author-
ship of The Tale ofGenji is made on the basis of both biographical and
internal evidence. Teramoto Naohiko (1912-90) has suggested that
she was probably the first reader of Genji to recognize the existence
of a major break (kugiri) in the narrative at the end of the 'Fuji no
Uraba' chapter.40 As mentioned above, this break, in Akiko's opinion,
marked the point at which Murasaki's Genji ended and Daini no Sanmi's
began. She also maintained that 'Hahakigi' was the first chapter of
Genji to be written and that 'Kiritsubo' was added at a later stage.
The essay is still valued as a pioneering work of modern scholarship
on Murasaki Shikibu, in which several of the critical approaches of
twentieth-century Genji studies are foreshadowed. Mitani Kuniaki (a
student of Oka Kazuo) explains his decision to place "Murasaki Shikibu
shinko" at the head of a selection of outstanding studies of Genji in
the following terms:
38. Unfortunately I have been unable to identify the piece in which Sassa "impugns" Murasaki's
"virtue." The only journal article by Sassa to appear in Sakurai Yiizo's list, cited in chap-
ter three, note 12, is "Genji monogatari ni egakareta onna," Jogaku sekai (February 1914),
but I have been unable to obtain this journal from any library.
39. Oka Kazuo, "Chogen," (Preface) Genji monogatari no kisoteki kenkyu, rev. ed. (Tokyodo,
1966), 3. Ando Tameakira is the author of the Genji commentary Shika shichiron (also
known as Shijo shichiron), completed 1703.
40. Conversation, 18 October 1986.
150 CHAPTER SEVEN
While on the one hand noting its value as the greatest advance in
the study of Murasaki Shikibu since Ando Tameakira's Shijo
shichiron [1703], I wish also to draw attention to the modern criti-
cal sensibility with which this essay seems to pulsate, that very
individual appreciation which informs the whole of Akiko's work
on the Shin'yaku Genji monogatari. As regards critical methodol-
ogy, all of the critical approaches that we now term modern—the
empiricist, the socio-historical method; the cultural-historical
method; the aesthetic method and so on—are to be found in ger-
minal form, bolstered by Akiko's own intellectual appreciation and
critical spirit, in this essay. For this reason, among others, the es-
say seemed an appropriate one with which to grace the beginning
of the present collection of studies.41
One wishes Mitani had been more precise in connecting Akiko's schol-
arship with the critical approaches of modern Genji studies, but with
a bit of speculation one can perhaps reconstruct his meaning. As we
have seen, in biographical studies of Murasaki Shikibu, Oka Kazuo
drew the lines of scholarly lineage from Ando Tameakira directly to
Akiko, and thence to his own work in the field. Modern studies of the
structure of Genji, according to Teramoto Naohiko, began with Akiko's
designation of a sharp structural break following 'Fuji no Uraba.'
Building upon this observation, Ikeda Kikan developed his thesis of a
tripartite Genji and his hypothetical reconstruction of the order in
which the component chapters were composed. In all of these fields
of Genji studies, Akiko is recognized by post-war scholars as an im-
portant pioneer. Her writings, however, also touch upon many other
subjects such as classical poetry, Heian period literary salons, the Heian
period woman's "education," and Japanese women's writing in gen-
eral. The sources upon which she bases her consideration of these
matters range not only over the entire corpus of Heian writing in
Japanese (wabun), but also a considerable body of writing in Chinese,
such as the Mido kanpaku ki, Shoyuki, and Honchoreiso (c. 1010).
Inevitably Akiko was drawn to translate Genji a second time.

She had never been happy with her first, much abbreviated, version,
and she felt that only a complete translation would suffice to thank
41. Mitani, "Kaisetsu," 329-30.

Ueda Bin and Mori Ogai for the prefaces they had written for her,
and Nakazawa Hiromitsu for the illustrations that had made the
Shin'yaku such a glittering publication.42 In the autumn of 1932, aged
fifty-four, she began work. In her afterword to the Shin-shindyaku Genji
monogatari, as this final version was to be entitled, Akiko describes
how she was suddenly overcome with the desire to retranslate Genji:
Seven years ago, in the autumn, I suddenly resolved that come

what may, I must make the time to fulfill my responsibility to re-
translate Genji. I began writing immediately, and I continued writ-
ing; I hurried on lest what was left of my life be over before I
should finish. But in the spring of 1935 I lost my husband. Need-
less to say, the chores I had to do as sole support of the family
increased. On the other hand, I also felt that I had not the strength
in my crushed heart to do more than compose poems. By that
time, including the work done during my husband's illness, I had
gone as far as the 'Hashihime' chapter. I had not even made a fair
copy of the chapters after 'Wakana.' I wasted two years staring at
the Shin-shin'yaku manuscript, piled up like a wall.43
Sometime during those two years, Akiko participated in per-

haps the most far-fetched activity of her Genji career: the recording
of a musical suite (kumikyoku) entitled Genji monogatari and consist-
ing of three movements: "Fujitsubo" (The Wisteria Court/Consort),
"Kosuzume" (Baby Sparrows) and "Wakakusa" (Young Grasses). To
my knowledge, the only surviving evidence of her involvement with
the project is a captioned photograph of Akiko standing before a mi-
crophone at the Koronbiya [Columbia] recording studios which ap-
peared in the Fujo shinbun of 8 November 1936. She was there to read
the original text of Genji, which became side one of the first record.
The remaining five sides were composed of various combinations of
vocal and instrumental music. Fujo shinbun commented:
Even though the piece is based upon forms of composition used

in Western music [duets, string quartets etc.], it is informed by
42. Shindyaku Genji monogatari is discussed, for example, in Okano Takao, Kindai Nihon meicho
kaidai (Yumei Shobo, 1962), 121. For Akiko's view of her first translation, see her "Shin-
shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki," 37.
43. Yosano, "Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki," 37.
152 CHAPTER SEVEN
gagaku-stylt melodies that are completely Japanese and this evokes

the classical emotional atmosphere (kotenteki jocho) of The Tale of
GenjiJ"
During the summer of 1937, Akiko prepared a translation of

Kagero nikki. This was first published the following year in the
"Heiancho joryu nikki" volume of Hibonkaku's Gendaigoyaku kokubun-
gaku zenshu series, together with reprints of her 1916 translations of
Murasaki Shikibu nikki and Izumi Shikibu nikki.45
A fortunate meeting with Kanao in the autumn of 1937 spurred
Akiko to finish her new translation of Genji46 Her disciple Yuasa
Mitsuo (1903-89) describes visiting her after she resumed work:
At that time Sensei was busy with the modern translation of Genji.
It was a relief not to be treated formally as a guest. After two or
three words of greeting, Sensei quickly took up the Nth on koten
zenshu edition of Genji and her pen raced across the paper. Saying
nothing we sat there stiffly by the desk gazing in admiration at
the awesome figure intent on the translation.47
By the time the Shin-shin yyaku manuscript was ready for check-
ing, Akiko could no longer read small print and her youngest child
Fujiko was called in to help. She recalls that as they worked through
the height of summer Akiko would say, red pen in hand, "Only the
Uji chapters to go now!" or "Only so many pages before it's finished!"48
The six volumes of Shin-shindy aku Genji monogatari were published,
44. "Kumikyoku Genji monogatari no fukikomi," Fujo shinbun, no. 1900 (8 November 1936): 3.
45. Yosano Akiko, trans., Heiancho joryu nikki, vol. 9 of Gendaigoyaku kokubungaku zenshu
(Hibonkaku, 1938).
46. Yosano, "Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki," 37. Kanao Tanejiro, "Akiko fujin to
Genji monogatari" Dokusho to bunken 2.8 (August 1942): 9.
47. Yuasa Mitsuo, "Akiko Genji to Kanao Bun'endo," Nihon kosho tsilshin 39.2 (February 1974):
5. Yuasa's identification of the text upon which the Shin-shin'yaku translation was based is
important, for no scholarly comparison with her earlier Shin'yaku translation can begin
until such fundamentals have been established. It has usually been assumed that the Shin-
shin'yaku translation was made from Akiko's own thirty volume woodblock printed edi-
tion of Genji, without colophon, now held by Kuramadera. The Nihon koten zenshu text
that she actually used is based upon an unannotated edition of Genji printed with wooden
movable type (kikatsuji), also without colophon, but thought to date from the Genna
period (1615-24). Details of the text are provided in the "Kaidai" to the first volume of
Genji in the Nihon koten zenshu series.
48. Mori Fujiko, "Haha Yosano Akiko (4)," Fujin koron 28.5 (May 1943): 61.
again by Kanao Bun'endo, between October 1938 and September

1939. Fujiko records the following anecdote to illustrate the profound
sense of elation her mother felt at finally completing her "whole life's
work":
Meaning to congratulate, someone once kindly suggested, "It must
be a great relief to you that all of your children are married with
families of their own." My mother replied, "Not at all. Children
grow up by themselves. The sort of joy one feels when children
get married is nothing compared to the joy I felt when I finished
translating Genji"*9
The Shin-shin'yaku does not seem to have attracted the notice

that had greeted the publication of the Shin'yaku a quarter of a cen-
tury earlier; I have been unable to track down any reviews from the
period. Although the Shin-shindyaku was illustrated with over fifty
woodcuts by Masamune TokusaburS (1883-1962), it was a modest
production in comparison with the 1912-13 Shin'yaku. Kanao could
not afford to advertise extensively, and it was apparently taken by some
to be merely a reprint of the earlier work.50
A further reason for the apparent lack of attention may be
that Akiko's translation had a powerful competitor in JunHchiroyaku
Genji monogatari, Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's first modern translation of
Genjij which began to appear in January 1939. He enjoyed the back-
ing of the major publishing house Chuo Koronsha, which lavished
considerable financial support upon the presentation and advertising
of the twenty-six volume work. Akiko certainly saw Tanizaki's effort
as detracting from her own accomplishment, but she was confident
that the recognition that she felt was her due would come with time.
Tenmin reports the following conversation:
Akiko said to me, "[Although the book won't appear to great fan-
fare, it is something into which I have poured body and soul; I am
sure that fifty years, a hundred years hence, there will come a time
when I will be recognized by all those of good sense."51
49.Ibid.
50. Yuasa, "Akiko Genji to Kanao Bun'endo," 6.
51. Kobayashi [i.e. Tenmin], "Akiko Genji ni tsuite," 3.
154 CHAPTER SEVEN
To Masamune Atsuo, her former colleague on the Nihon koten zenshu

project, she wrote:
I am much indebted to Tokusaburo-sama [youngest of the three

Masamune brothers and illustrator of the Shin-shin *yaku] for his
assistance with Genji. Moreover, I heard from Arai-sama [?] that
Hakucho-sama [eldest of the brothers] kindly said that the Yosano
Genji is better than the Tanizaki Genji because it is livelier. . . . It
is all because of my relationship with you that he is kind enough
to support me. 52
The publicity attending the appearance of Tanizaki's transla-

tion as well as the importance the military regime attached to exercis-
ing control over his publisher Chuo Koronsha may have worked
against him, however. For as is well known, Tanizaki's first transla-
tion of Genji was heavily expurgated: the sections describing Genji's
tryst with Oborozukiyo; his liaison with Fujitsubo; and Fujitsubo's
horror at the resulting pregnancy were excised in their entirety, with-
out the usual fuseji to indicate the deletions.53 Akiko's Shin-shindyaku
suffered no such fate and was published without cuts. And there is
nothing vague about her version of these events. Omyobu gathering
up Genji's outer clothing and removing them from the "bedroom"
the morning after; Fujitsubo's reluctant realization that she is preg-
nant; the terror they both feel, though Genji's fear is tempered by a
(rather modern) delight in his potency; Fujitsubo's expanding girth
and her morning sickness—all the details are there.54 More detailed
comparisons of the Shin-shin'yaku with Tanizaki's first translation will
be drawn in the next chapter.
On 3 October 1939, a banquet was held at the Seiyoken Res-

taurant in Ueno to celebrate the publication of the Shin-shindyaku.
52. Letter dated 20 July 1939, cited in Itsumi Kumi, "Yosano Akiko no Genji monogatari
kogoyaku ni tsuite," Kokugakuin zasshi 94.1 (January 1993): 34.
53. The account in Jay Rubin, Injurious to Public Morals: Writers and the Meiji State (Seattle:
University of Washington Press, 1984), 258-60, suggests that the cuts were forced more
by Tanizaki's collaborator Yamada Yoshio (1873-1958) than by the military authorities,
but further research is needed before any firm conclusions can be drawn.
54. Yosano Akiko, Shin-shin}yaku Genji monogatari (1938; reprint, Nihonsha, 1948), 1:169-72;
d.NKBZ 1:305-9.
Fortunately, a photograph survives that preserves something of the

atmosphere of the occasion.55 The great dining room of Tokyo's pre-
mier Western-style restaurant, with its high, decorated ceilings, floor-
length curtains, and crystal chandeliers, is filled with some 170 people
from all over Japan, each with a sprig of aoi pinned to his or her cos-
tume. Here they sit in long rows, facing tables spread with starched
linen, spread with a full panoply of china and silver, and adorned with
long-stemmed flowers in thin-stemmed vases. Hardly a Heian atmo-
sphere, but certainly appropriate to the celebration of a project of
modernity. At the banquet, congratulatory speeches were made by a
number of men from the literary world, almost all of whom had at
one time been associated with the Shinshisha. They included Arishima
Ikuma (1882-1974), Kinoshita Mokutaro (1885-1945), Takamura
Kotaro (1883-1956), Satd Haruo (1892-1964), and Horiguchi Daigaku
(1892-1981). All the speeches were subsequently printed in a special
issue of the coterie magazine Tohaku, successor to Myojo, founded in
1930 and run by Yosano disciples.56 The issue also included a set of
commemorative tanka by Koganei Kimiko, who was not merely con-
gratulatory but so extravagant in her praise as to suggest that Akiko's
Shin-shindywku had rendered even the work of Motoori Norinaga su-
perfluous:
Taotao to motsureshi suji no naki mono o

Tama no ogushi wa ima nani ka sen.57
With no more entangling complications to impede us,
what need have we now for Tama no ogushi}
The high point of the evening was a short address by Akiko

herself. She used the opportunity not to talk about her translation,
55. Shiota Ryohei, ed., Yosano Akiko, vol. 16 oiNihon bungaku arubamu (Chikuma Shobo, 1955), 49.
56. Tohaku 10.10 (October 1939).
57. Koganei Kimiko, "Genji kyoen," Tohaku 10.10 (October 1939), 58. The poem clearly re-
fers to Norinaga's epigraph to Genji monogatari Tama no ogushi:
Sono kami no kokoro tazunete midaretaru
suji tokiwakuru tama no ogushi zo.
To untangle the tangled strands, to search
the minds of ages past: this little bejeweled comb.
156 CHAPTER SEVEN
but rather to reiterate her theory of the dual authorship of Genji. Satd
Haruo later recalled how she seemed to glow with youth and beauty
as she spoke, invigorated, as ever, by her subject.58
It is tempting to speculate that by this time Akiko at last felt
confidently enough in possession of Genji to take on the mantle—
quite literally, even—of the Murasaki Shikibu of her day. For her
neighbor and colleague at Bunka Gakuin, the novelist and critic Abe
Tomoji (1903-73), recalled that when he and Akiko rode the train to
school together, he to lecture on English literature, she to lecture on
Genji, she often wore a kimono and haori of a deep purple—koi mura-
saki. "In the garden of my present home in Setagaya," he continues,
"there is a shrub called the Murasaki Shikibu, which in autumn fairly
glows with small berries of a rich purple; it sometimes sets me to
thinking of Akiko."59
The Shin-shindyaku translation, Akiko's last Genji, was her last
major work of any sort. Apart from some obituaries and a few poems,
she wrote nothing further during the remainder of her life. She died
at home on 29 May 1942. According to Fujiko, Akiko's only regret
was that she had been unable to publish in any detail the results of her
research into the authorship of Genji.60
58. Cited in Shinma, "Yosano Akiko to Genji monogatari," 268.

59. Abe Tomoji, "Yosano Akiko no omoide," Nihon no koten geppo, no. 2 (Kawade Shobo Shinsha,
1971), no page numbers.
60. Mori, "Haha Yosano Akiko (4)," 62; Mori, Midaregami, 251.
Chapter Eight:
The Tale ofGenji: "My Whole Life's Work"
Ware mo miru Genji no sakusha osanakute

chichi to nagameshi Echizen no yama. (7:18)
Now I too see them: the mountains of Echizen that the author of Genji
in her youth gazed upon with her father.
Genji monogatari wa wagakuni no koten no naka dejibun ga mottomo

aidoku shita sho de aru. Shojiki ni ieba, kono shosetsu o mikai suru ten
ni tsuite jibun wa ikka no nukigatai jishin o motte iru.
The Tale ofGenji is my favorite book among the classics of our coun-
try. To be honest, when it comes to the understanding and apprecia-
tion of this novel, I have the unshakable confidence of a master.
"After Shin'yaku Genji monogatari" (1913)
In the foregoing chapters we have noted two tendencies in

Akiko's work with The Tale ofGenji that may appear to stand in oppo-
sition to each other. On the one hand, her first translation extricated
Murasaki's fiction from the realm of the classics and their guardians,
the scholars of National Literature. Akiko rewrote Genji in the collo-
quial style of the Meiji novelist, transforming it from a classic that
had to be studied with the aid of commentary into a novel that could
be read cover to cover without interruption. Her subsequent work,
on the other hand, showed a steadily stronger scholarly bent. In the
course of composing her own commentary on Genji, editing a series
of canonical texts, and documenting the biographical details of Mura-
saki Shikibu's life, Akiko herself became a recognized member of that
community of classicists from whom she once wrested the Genji. Ac-
customed as we are to the sharp separation of writer and scholar in
the world of modern Japanese letters, the question naturally arises
how Akiko might have bridged this gap. I suspect, however, that in
157
158 CHAPTER EIGHT
her own mind there was no gap to bridge, that she sensed no opposi-
tion between these two aspects of her work.
In the poem above, for example, we see how easily the per-
sona of the scholar reconstructing the life of her author blends with
the persona of the poet "on tour,"1 while the prose epigraph suggests
that within Akiko?s conception of Genji, "classic" (koten) and "novel"
(shosetsu) could be virtual synonyms. More cogent still is the evidence
of the language of her last, complete translation of Genji, the Shin-
shin'yaku Genji monogatari. For here, I think, in this linguistic blend
of the creative writer and the scholar, is where we may find some clue
to the reasons Akiko was able to effect so great a change in the style
of Genji translating, while at the same time shifting the center of gravity
of her work steadily closer to the world of those scholars who had
failed to develop such a style.
Evidence of this sort does not lie on the surface of the text,
but must be teased out of it. For this reason a mode of analysis differ-
ent from that applied to the Shin'yaku has been used. Rather than
examining longish passages in comparison with the original, I exam-
ine Akiko's translations of the immediate contexts of several occur-
rences of a single word. Her translations are compared with the mod-
ern rendition given beneath the text in the Nihon koten bungaku zenshu
edition of Genji, and the first of Tanizaki Junichiro's three transla-
tions, his JunHchiro yaku Genji monogatari of 1939-41.2 The NKBZ
1. The poem is one of a number Akiko wrote during a trip to Fukui Prefecture in the autumn
of 1933. Hiroshi and Akiko were often invited to visit provincial cities and towns. As
Kouchi Nobuko explains, this was one of the ways the Yosanos made their living: they
would be scheduled to give lectures; meet with local educators, poets, fans, and the press;
and of course compose poetry, which would be presented to local admirers in the form of
tanzaku, poetry cards (sbikishi), and the like. See Kouchi Nobuko, Yosano Akiko—Showa-
ki o chushin ni— (Domesu Shuppan, 1993), esp. 155-60.
2. The first Tanizaki translation has been chosen because it is the near contemporary of Akiko's
Shin-shin'yaku. In his second translation of 1951-54, Tanizaki makes only one small al-
teration to his original translations of the passages quoted below. His third translation of
1964-65 differs from his second version only in orthography: "historical" kana spellings
are replaced with postwar spellings, and a few words previously written in kanji are writ-
ten in kana. For a more detailed but highly idiosyncratic account of the differences be-
tween the three Tanizaki translations, see Roy Andrew Miller, "Levels of Speech (keigo)
and the Japanese Linguistic Response to Modernization," in Tradition and Modernization
in Japanese Culture, ed. Donald H. Shively (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1971),
651-62.
THE TALE OF GENJL "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 159
version provides a contrast with a highly learned style of translating

employed specifically as an aid to readers of the original text. It serves
also as a reliable control when questions of interpretation arise. Tani-
zaki's translation offers the opportunity to identify a few specific points
in which Akiko's work contrasts with that of her younger contempo-
rary, who presumably writes for the same audience.3 Obviously the
scope of such a comparison is too limited to serve as a basis for judg-
ing the overall merits of either translation, but such is not the inten-
tion of the present exercise. The aim of this analysis is to determine,
to the extent that the text allows, Akiko's sense of the nuance of the
original occurrence; how this understanding is expressed; and the tech-
niques that are used to incorporate this understanding into the larger
context of the sentence that conveys it.
The single word examined here is uretashi, a Heian word for

which there is no precise modern equivalent, unlike, for example, tsura-
shi, for which there is the modern Japanese tsurai (hard to bear, pain-
ful). Uretashi must therefore be actively dealt with and not just re-
placed by a standard equivalent. For present purposes, it has also to
recommend it the fact that it is used only ten times in Genji; every
occurrence can be examined, thus avoiding an unintentionally biased
selection.
A sampling of dictionary definitions suffices to suggest the va-
riety of possibilities open to the translator—and the difficulty of choos-
ing among them. Iwanami kogojiten defines uretashi as follows:
A contraction of ura (=kokoro) and itashi. 1. One's treatment (by
another person) is angering (ikidoroshiku) or irritating (imaimashii).
3. I have consulted, but in the present discussion do not draw upon, the following compari-
sons of Akiko and Tanizaki's translations of Genji: Ikeda Kikan, "Genji monogatari no
gendaigoyaku—Yosano, Kubota, Igarashi, Tanizaki, Funabashi shi no rosaku—," in Hana
o oru (Chuo Koronsha, 1959), 337-41; Hidaka Hachiro, "Futatsu no Yosano Genji," Tosho
shinbun, no. 720 (24 August 1963): 8; Fukunaga Takehiko, "Gendai no Genji monogatari"
Asahi shinbun, 20 December 1964, 18; Nomura Seiichi, "Yosano Genji to Tanizaki Genji,"
in Genji monogatari no sozo (Ofusha, 1969), 336-49; Kuwahara Satoshi, "Tanizaki Genji
no tokusei," Heian bungaku kenkyu, no. 77 (May 1987): 148-56; Kitamura Yuika, (iGenji
monogatari no saisei—gendaigoyaku ron," Bungaku 3.1 (Winter 1992): 44-53; Hiranuma
Megumi and Igarashi Masataka, "Genji monogatari gendaigoyaku no nagare—Yosano Akiko
kara Hashimoto Osamu made—," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 59.3 (March 1994):
159-65.
160 CHAPTER EIGHT
2. One is hurt by an unfeeling (mujo no) act or attitude, in re-

sponse to which one wishes to state one's grievance (fuhei) or dis-
satisfaction (fuman).4
Kogo daijiten offers a wider range of meanings, some of them express-

ing rather stronger feelings:
1. A state of violent mental reaction (kokoro ga hageshiku namidatsu

sama) [which is manifested] in abhorrence (zoo), indignation
(fungai), or the like. Angering (haradatashit). Irritating (imaimashii).
Offensive (shaku ni sawaru). 2. Embittering (shingai de aru). Re-
sentful (urameshii). 3. Odious (kimiga warui). Repulsive (itowashit).5
Kitayama Keita quotes six of the ten occurrences in Genji and offers
four potential equivalents thereof:
Irritating (imaimashi). Detestably resentful (nikuku urameshi). An-

gering (haradatashi). Embittering (shingai nari).6
Nihon kokugo daijiten adds an historical dimension:
In ancient times [uretasbi] was most often used with reference to

acts of another person that conflicted with one's own desires. From
the Heian period forward it came to express feelings of dissatis-
faction toward other situations in general. Resentful (urameshii).
Detestable (nikui). Offensive (shaku ni sawaru). Embittering (shingai
de aru). Lamentable (nagekawashii). Disagreeable (iya da).7
Insofar as they can be determined by lexicographical means, then, the

semantic givens of the comparison may be summarized as follows: In
early usage, uretashi denotes the bitterness of betrayal. A person you
took to be your friend, or at least an ally, to your astonishment, treats
you badly. The shock and pain of the experience, as well as the anger
and resentment toward the person who caused it, are described as
4. Ono Susumu, Satake Akihiro, and Maeda Kingoro, eds., Iwanami kogojiten, rev. ed. (Iwanami
Shoten, 1990), 198c.
5. Nakada Norio, Wada Toshimasa, and Kitahara Yasuo, eds., Kogo daijiten (Shogakukan, 1983),
234b.
6. Kitayama Keita, Genji monogatari jiten (Heibonsha, 1957), 124b.
7. Nihon kokugo daijiten (Shogakukan, 1972-76), 3:90c.
uretashi. As time passes the edge of the word's bitterness is dulled and
the specificity of its reference becomes blurred, so that it comes to be
used to describe unfortunate situations that are not the fault of any
particular individual.
Upon encountering the word uretashi, the translator must there-
fore answer a number of questions concerning that particular occur-
rence. Does the word refer to the doer of the deed, the deed itself, or
the reaction of the person to whom it is done? Or does it refer to
some generalized situation, the perpetrator of which either is not
known or not stated? Where do the speaker's feelings lie on the scale
that ranges from regret to irritation to indignation to outrage? For
the translator of Genji, the possibilities are not so numerous: every
occurrence of uretashi in this text expresses the speaker's resentment
toward a particular person for a particular attitude or act. It is also
interesting to note that nine out of the ten occurrences describe a
man's resentment toward a woman whom he imagines has mistreated
him. In Murasaki Shikibu's vocabulary, uretashi retains much of the
barbed specificity of its earliest senses.
What, then, are the resources available to the translator of
this difficult word? As the foregoing definitions indicate, there are
any number of terms that might serve as modern equivalents for
uretashi. The translations compared below show a decided preference
for three: imaimashii, shingai na/da, and nasakenai (heartless). None of
the equivalents appear to cover quite the same denotational ground
as the original, however.8 (It will be apparent from the translations
below that English, too, lacks a precise equivalent for uretashi.) The
instinctual recoil from the source of one's affliction is conveyed well
by imaimashii; but it cannot qualify as an exact substitute, as it evolves
from a word that originally described abhorrence rather than enmity.
The shock of unexpected betrayal is vividly present in shingai; but the
betrayer may as well be a situation as a person. A human betrayer is
certainly implied by nasakenai; but the emphasis of the word seems to
lie more heavily upon the inhumanity of that person than upon the
8. These remarks are based upon definitions given in Nihon kokugo daijiten and Kindaichi
Kyosuke, et al., eds., Shin-meikai kokugo jiten, 4th ed. (Sanseido, 1989).
162 CHAPTER EIGHT
anguish of the betrayed. The same is true of its Sino-Japanese coun-

terpart mujo na.
Replacement by a single word is by no means the only way to
translate uretashi. The syntactic deployment of whatever word the
translator may choose can affect the overall sense of the sentence as
much as the denotational meaning of that word. The translator may
also choose to distribute the sense of the original word throughout
the immediate context, rather than opt for translation by substitu-
tion. In comparing the way Murasaki's translators have rendered
uretashi, we must therefore attend not only to the words chosen, but
also to their syntactical relationship to surrounding words, as well as
any other strategies the translators may have employed to replicate
the sense of the original.9
With these observations and cautions in mind, let us look at

Akiko's translations of uretashi in comparison with those of the NKBZ
translators and of Tanizaki. The first occurrence is in the 'Utsusemi'
(The Shell of the Locust) chapter:
Kogimi ni, "ito tsuro mo ureto mo oboyuru ni, shiite omoikaesedo, kokoro
ni shimo shitagawazu kurushiki o, sarinubeki ori mite taime(n) subeku
tabakare" to, notamaiwatareba . . . (1:192; S 49)
He [Genji] was always telling Kogimi that "This is so painfuland
irritating that I've tried to force myself to give up on her
[Utsusemi]; yet agonizing though it is, it just doesn't work. You
must watch for a good opportunity and arrange for me to meet
her . . ."
[NKBZ] Kogimi ni, "mattaku hidoi to mo, imaimashii to mo omou ni
tsuke, muri ni mo omoinaoso to suru keredo, jibun no omoidori ni mo
ikazu . . . "
[T] "Anmari tsuraku kanashii kara, muri ni mo wasureyo to shite iru
9. For a more detailed discussion of the translation of classical Japanese into modern (i.e.
eighteenth-century) Japanese, see Motoori Norinaga's preface to Kokinshu tokagami, ed.
Okubo Tadashi, vol. 3 of Motoori Norinaga zenshu (Chikuma Shob5, 1969); and T. J. Harper,
"Norinaga on the Translation of Waka: His Preface to A Kokinshu Telescope," in The Dis-
tant Isle: Studies and Translations of Japanese Literature in Honor of Robert H. Brower, ed.
Thomas Hare, Robert Borgen, and Sharalyn Orbaugh, Michigan Monograph Series in
Japanese Studies, no. 15 (Ann Arbor: Center for Japanese Studies, The University of
Michigan, 1996), 205-30.
THE TALE OF GENJL "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 16 3
keredomojibunno kokorogajibun dedo nimo naranaino da."(1:137/

1:88/1:82)10
[A] "Anna mujo na urameshii hito wa nai to watashi wa omotte,
wasureyo to shite mojibun no kokoro gajibun no omou yd ni naranai
kara kurushinde iru no dayo." (1:77)11
Toward the end of the previous chapter, 'Hahakigi,' Genji's first at-
tempts to seduce Utsusemi end disastrously in repeated rejection. To
someone so "unused to being detested" this comes as a great shock,
and he "realizes for the first time how cruel life can be." He is "shamed
and doubts he can go on living" (1:191; S 49)—and is bitterly resent-
ful toward the woman who has done all this to him: ito tsuro mo ureto
mo oboyuru ni . . .
NKBZ renders this as imaimashii. It also drops the adverbial
inflection of the original and casts the word as a pure adjective, bring-
ing it into association with the verb using the quotative particle to.
Instead of "thinking/feeling resentfully," Genji "thinks/feels 'this is
irritating.'"
Tanizaki retains the adverbial tsuraku, but omits to translate
oboyu; kanashii, his substitute for uretashi, would seem to lie outside
the range of emotions denoted by this word, for it conveys none of
Genji's resentment of Utsusemi's cold treatment of him. "Sad" (among
other things) he may be, but he blames neither himself nor the situa-
tion for his condition. His discontent is directed at a particular per-
son, and it is more bitter than sad.
Akiko translates the pair of adjectives tsurashi and uretashi with
mujo na and urameshii. She too drops the adverbial form and, as in the
Shin'yaku, chooses to clarify, in this case by adding hito, the unstated
doer of the resented deed. "'Never was there so unfeeling and resent-
ful a person,' I thought."
The second instance of uretashi also occurs in the 'Utsusemi'
chapter. Genji, having decided that after all he will go on living, makes
10. Volume and page numbers refer respectively to Tanizaki]un'ichiro's JunHchiro yaku Genji
monogatari, 26 vols. (Chuo Koronsha, 1939-41); Shin'yaku Genji monogatari fukyuban, 6
vols. (Chuo Koronsha, 1956-58); and Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 10 vols. (Chuo
Koronsha, 1964-65).
11. Page numbers refer to the six-volume reprint of Akiko's Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari in
the Nihon bunko series (Nihonsha, 1948-49).
164 CHAPTER EIGHT
a further attempt upon Utsusemi, only to discover that she has antici-
pated his approach and fled the room. He is thus forced to pretend
that he has come in quest of her companion, Nokiba no Ogi; all of the
old anger and resentment that come flooding back is again described
as uretashi, this time in its attributive form, pointing directly at hito,
that is, Utsusemi:
Nikushi to wa nakeredo, migokoro tomarubekiyue mo naki kokochi shite,

nao kano uretaki hito no kokoro o imijiku obosu. (1:200; S 54)
He [Genji] did not find her [Nokiba no Ogi] off-putting, yet nei-
ther did he feel there was any reason to be attracted to her; and
what that other hateful person [Utsusemi] must be thinking of it
all was too dreadful to contemplate.
[NKBZ] Nikuge wa nai mono no, o-suki ni naru dake no tokoro mo nai
ki ga shite, yahari ano imaimashii onna no kimochi o, hidoi to o-omoi ni
naru.
[T] Kimi wa o-kirai na no de wa nai ga, ki ni iru hazu mo nai yd na
kokochi ga nasutte, hitoshio ano hakujo na hito no shiuchi o urameshii
to oboshimesu. (1:147/1:96/1:90)
[A] Nikuku wa nakutemo kokoro no hikareru ten no nai ki ga shite,
kono toki de sae Genji no kokoro wa mujo na hito no koishisa de ippai
datta. (1:83)
NKBZ again chooses imaimashii, and retains the syntactical

structure of the original. Tanizaki, too, retains the syntax of the origi-
nal, but substitutes hakujo na "unfeeling" for uretashi. This describes
Genji's assessment of Utsusemi well enough, but—like Tanizaki's pre-
vious translation kanashii—conveys none of Genji's own bitterness.
Akiko also retains the syntax of the original, this time using
mujo na to render uretashi. Curiously, both Tanizaki and Akiko seem
to stray from the original in the latter clause. Both agree that "he did
not find her off-putting, yet neither did he feel there was any reason
to be attracted to her. . . . " Thereafter, however, Akiko goes on to say
that "even at that time Genji's heart was filled with longing for that
heartless person;" whereas Tanizaki says, "he felt utterly resentful of
his treatment by that unfeeling person." Tanizaki is certainly closer
to the original, yet in his version, Genji's resentment is directed not
toward Utsusemi's thoughts/feelings, but her treatment of him.
Whether these departures are the result of mistaken interpretation or
translator's license is impossible to say.
In the third occurrence, yet another woman who proves im-

pervious to Genji's charms, Princess Asagao, is the object of his vexa-
tion. But the emotional nuances are quite different from those in the
attempt upon Utsusemi. The princess has seen from the experience
of the Rokujo lady what pain a liaison with Genji can bring, and she is
determined not to subject herself to this sort of agony (2:13; S 159).
She bears Genji no ill will, and does her best not to hurt his feelings;
but her rebuff is firm and unbending. Genji, for his part, dares not
take umbrage to such an extent as before. Asagao is the daughter of a
prince and not the second wife of a provincial governor. Besides which,
he is fifteen years older, and (in some ways) more mature:
Otodo wa, anagachi ni oboshiiraruru ni shimo aranedo, tsurenaki on-
keshiki no uretaki ni, makete yaminamu mo kuchioshiku . . . (2:478; S
356)
The minister [Genji] was by no means angry with her [Asagao];
still he would have regretted to give up in defeat to the vexation
of her cold demeanor.
[NKBZ] Genji no otodo wa, so hitori katte ni iradatte orareru wake de
wa nai ga, bimegimi no tsurenai go-yosu ga imaimashii ue ni, rnaketa
mama de owaru no mo zannen da shi...
[T] Kimi mo honto wa so hitamuki na go-shushin to iu no de mo nai ga,
tsumetai o-shiuchi ga shingai na no de, makete o-shimai ni naru no mo
imaimashiku . . . (8:26/2:339/4:52)
[A] Genji wa anagachi ni asette kekkon ga shitai no de wa nakatta ga
koibito no reitan na no ni makete shimau no ga zannen de naranakatta.
(2:295)
NKBZ once again substitutes imaimashii for uretashi. Tanizaki

opts for shingai na; for him, however, the subject of the clause is no
generalized manner (on-keshiki), but quite specifically the princess's
treatment {o-shiuchi) of Genji.
At first glance, Akiko's translation seems a bit out of focus.
None of the lexicographers cited above suggests zannen as a potential
equivalent for uretashi. There are, however, depths to zannen that or-
dinary conversational usage does not often draw upon. Nihon kokugo
daijiten defines these as follows:
To feel resentful {kuyashiku omou koto) of being outdone by an-

other person or suffering defeat in competition. Or the state
thereof. Mortification (munen). (9:293b)
166 CHAPTER EIGHT
Taken in this sense it seems the perfect word to render Genji's more
composed, more mature resentment of a woman's refusal. Perhaps the
final naranakatta may be meant to convey something of the sense of irri-
tation that is lacking in zannen} In any case, Akiko's version probably
comes closest to reproducing the emotional quality of the original.12
The fourth occurrence of uretashi is in the 'Fuji no Uraba'
chapter. To no Chujd, having at long last decided that Yugiri would
make an acceptable husband for his daughter Kumoinokari, is shocked
to find Yugiri so unresponsive to hints of his change of heart. In the
end he must lower himself to inviting Yugiri to his home, where, un-
der the pretext of drunkenness, he can make the offer more obvious.
His resentment at being forced into the position of petitioner is ex-
pressed in his use of uretashi:
Murasaki ni kagoto wa kakemufuji no hana
matsuyori sugite uretakeredomo. (3:430; S 527)
Let us blame its purple hue; vexing though it was
to wait for the wisteria to overgrow the pine.
[NKBZ] Fuji no hana no uramurasaki ni uramigoto wa motte yukima-
sho. Fuji no hana ga matsu no kozue o koete nikurashii to omou kere-
domo—machidoshii omoi o saseta anata o imaimashii to omou ga, sono
guchi wa musume no ho ni moshimasho. . . .
[T] [Tanizaki gives the original poem, without any explanatory
note in his first translation; in his second translation it is glossed
as follows:]
Hyomen no i wa, "fuji no hana ga matsu yori sakikosu no wa shingai da
keredomo, sono murasaki no iro ni koto yosete menjimasho" de aru ga,
kokoro wa, "anata kara no o-moshikomi o matte ita no ni, munashiku
tsukihi ga sugite, toto konata kara orete deru no wa nagekawashii shidai
da keredomo, sore mo musume no en ni koto yosete shinbo shimasho" to
iu koto. (11:134/3:348-49/5:198-99)
[A] [Akiko quotes the original poem, without explication; 3:313]
NKBZ again substitutes imaimashii for uretashi, and makes the

syntactical adjustments needed to compensate for inflections no longer
available in modern Japanese. Tanizaki again prefers shingai da, which
12. What appear to be differing interpretations of the first half of the sentence are the results
of textual variants. Akiko and Tanizaki follow an alternate reading of the text which gives
oboshi iraruru as "to be overwhelmed with passion," rather than "to be angry or upset," as
in the NKBZ text. Cf. NKBT edition of Genji, 2:264.
THE TALE OF GENJI: "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 167
in his explication he rephrases as nagekawashii. In contrast to the var-

ied approach Akiko adopted to the poetry of Genji in her first transla-
tion, in her second translation she consistently gives only the original
text of a poem, with no exegetical note. She seems to assume, opti-
mistically, that her readers are as competent at deciphering Heian
verse as she herself is.
The fifth example oiuretashi occurs in the 'Wakana jo' chap-
ter. It is Genji's fortieth year, and Tamakazura arranges a gala cel-
ebration. Here Genji expresses his "resentment" toward her for call-
ing attention to his age. The word must be placed in quotation marks,
because in this case it is susceptible of multiple interpretation. Genji
is genuinely grateful to Tamakazura for remembering him and show-
ing concern for him. He expresses his gratitude with a touch of hu-
mor ("How could you be so cruel as to remind me of how old I am?")
that in itself constitutes an intimacy. Yet at the same time, the re-
minder really does hurt, especially coming from Tamakazura, who
has rejected him as a lover with the reminder that he was, after all,
supposed to be her "parent" (3:206; S 438). He has never really for-
given her, and a veiled hint of this lingering resentment of her previ-
ous "counting" of his age may well be carried in his use of uretashi.
The translator is thus faced with the formidable task of rendering a
complexly subtle use of an obsolete word:
Hitoyori koto ni kazoetoritamaikeru kyo no ne no hi koso, nao uretakere.

(4:50-51; S 551)
This Day of the Rat, which you [Tamakazura] took the trouble to
calculate before anyone else, I [Genji] nonetheless regret.
[NKBZ] Anata ga dare yori mo saki ni watashi no toshi o kazoete o-
iwai shite kudasatta kyo no ne no hi wa, kaetteyahari urameshii kimochi
desu. (4:49-50)
[T] Watashi ga yonju ni narimashita koto o, dare yori saki ni o-yomitori
ni natte, iwatte kudasaimashita kyo no ne no hi ga, ureshii nagara kana-
shiku nai koto mo arimasenu. (12:53/4:31/6:32)
[A] Anata ga dare yori mo saki ni kazoete kudasutte nenrei no iwai o
shite kudasaru ne no hi mo, sukoshi no urameshiku nai koto wa nai.
(4:31-32)
NKBZ and Akiko agree upon urameshii. And all translators seem
to agree that the emphasis of the koso-izenkei construction must some-
168 CHAPTER EIGHT
how be accounted for. NKBZ has Genji say that "contrary to what
one might expect I feel resentful." Tanizaki's kanashii again seems to
overlook the element of resentment in uretashi: Genji is "delighted
but not without a certain sadness." Akiko's "not without a touch of
resentment" conveys the state of mind more accurately.
The sixth occurrence of uretashi is in the 'Wakana ge' chapter.

Kashiwagi is smitten by his first glimpse of Genji's neglected child
bride Onnasannomiya and sends her a poem alluding to the incident.
The princess's waiting lady Kojiju replies in her stead, urging Kashi-
wagi not to let on that this has happened. He cannot but see the jus-
tice of her warning, but neither is it the sort of reply he had hoped for:
Kotowari to wa omoedomo, "uretaku mo ieru kana . . . " (4:145; S 587)
True enough, he [Kashiwagi] thought; and yet how maddening
that she [Kojiju] should say so.
[NKBZ] Naruhodo sore mo sono tori to wa omou keredomo, "imaima-
shiku mo itte yokoshita mono da . . ."
[T] Kotowari to wa omou keredomo, tsurenai iikata o suru mono kana
...(13:1/4:105/6:107)
[A] Kojijil ga kaite kita koto wa dori ni chigai nai ga mata rokotsu na
hidoi kotoba da to mo Emon no Kami ni wa omowareta. (4:100)
NKBZ yet again chooses imaimashii, retaining the syntactical

structure of the original: Kojiju "speaks vexingly." Tanizaki alters the
syntax with tsurenai'. she replies in a "heartless manner of speaking."
Akiko too uses the attributive form, but expands the single word ureta-
shiinto two, rokotsu na and hidoi, both of which modify kotoba: "these
are brusque, harsh words." There is no danger that her readers will
underestimate the force of the blow to Kashiwagi's expectations.
In the seventh example, also from 'Wakana ge,' uretashi is called

upon to bear a greater weight of shock, anger, and resentment than in
any other instance in Genji. Genji has only recently learnt that Onna-
sannomiya has been unfaithful, and the pain of his discovery is still
too great to discuss other than obliquely. This pain is the object of
reference in this occurrence of uretashi.
Mata, ima wa, koyonaku sadasuginitaru arisama mo, anazurawashiku

menarete nomi minashitamauramu mo, katagata ni kuchioshiku mo,
THE TALE OF GENJI: "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 169
uretaku mo oboyuru o . . . (4:259-60; S 629-30)

And now that I've [Genji] grown so old and ugly, I suppose that to
you [Onnasannomiya] I seem despicable and boring—which for
me is not only regrettable but hurtful.
[NKBZ] Sore ni mata ima de wa, sukkari toshiyori ni natte shimatta
watashi no sugata mo, torn ni tarazu kawaribae mo shinai to bakari
kimete irassharu no desho kara, are ni tsuke kore ni tsuke zannen ni mo
nasakenaku mo omowaremasu ga . . . (4:260)
[T] Mata kono goro no yd ni ko toshi o totte shimaimashite wa, anazu-
rawashu furukusaku mo o-omoi ni narimasho shi> sore ya kore ya o
kangaemasu to, kuchioshiku nasakenai ki ga suru no desu ga . . .
(13:148/4:191/6:97)
[A] Mata anata to wa nenrei no sa no hanahadashii otto o keibetsu
shitaku mo naru desho keredo, watashi toshite sore o zannen ni omowanai
wake wa arimasen ga . . . (4:181)
NKBZ and Tanizaki both render uretaku with nasakenaku

(heartless). If, as seems likely, Akiko intends zannen ni to translate
kuchioshiku, then there is no word in her translation that corresponds
even indirectly to uretaku. Or perhaps her intention was to subsume
the meaning of both adjectives of the original in the single phrase
zannen ni omowanai wake de wa arimasen ga (As for me, I cannot but
resent this [your disdain for me]). This method at least has the virtue
of identifying pointedly the person betrayed and his betrayer, which
may in itself have seemed to account for the pointedness of uretashi.
NKBZ and Tanizaki follow the syntax of the original precisely. Akiko,
too, although she omits to translate uretashi directly, renders its part-
ner in an adverbial inflection.
In the eighth instance, an interesting contrast to the previous

example, Genji's son Yugiri directs the same charge of contempt for
an aging husband against his wife Kumoinokari. Here, too, there is a
hidden agenda. But this time it is the husband himself who is the
transgressor. Yugiri's accusation is a desperate but feeble attempt to
deflect his wife's resentment at his taking a second partner. The force
of uretashi only serves to emphasize the hollowness of his allegation:
Nengetsu ni soete ito anazuritamau koso uretakere. (4:414; S 688)

Your [Kumoinokari's] terrible contempt for me [Yugiri] the older
I get—that is painful.
170 CHAPTER EIGHT
[NKBZ] Nengetsu ga tatsu ni tsurete hidoku kono watashi o naigashiro

ni nasaru yd ni narareta no ga nasakenai. (4:415)
[T] Dandan nengetsu ga tatsu ni tsurete, hito o naigashiro ni nasaru
no wa shingaidesu. (15:45/4:317/7:110)
[A] Nengetsu ni sotte watashi o anadoru koto ga hidoku naru no wa
komatta mono da. (4:294)
NKBZ again substitutes nasakenai for uretashi. Tanizaki does

likewise with shingai. Akiko does more than merely substitute; she
translates uretashi with the phrase komatta mono da (that you disdain
me all the more the older I get is vexing indeed). In doing so she again
departs from the repertoire of dictionary definitions, choosing a phrase
that not only expresses Yugiri's frustration but exposes his disingenu-
ousness as well. Here, as elsewhere, she seems more inclined than
either NKBZ or Tanizaki to take into account the context in which
uretashi occurs and to vary her translation accordingly. Whatever its
lack of precision as a substitute for the Heian word, the virtue of
komatta mono da is that it rises out of the situation rather than simply
functioning as a synonym. Although all three translations follow the
original syntax, NKBZ and Akiko attempt to render the stress of the
koso-izenkei construction, the former with hidoku and the latter with
mono da, whereas Tanizaki seems to ignore it.
The ninth occurrence of uretashi is in the 'Takekawa' (Bam-

boo River) chapter. Kaoru pays a New Year's visit to Tamakazura.
While he awaits her emergence, her waiting ladies make no secret of
their admiration for him, and flirt quite openly with him. His enjoy-
ment of their attentions is rudely extinguished, however, when their
mistress Tamakazura enters the room and upbraids the young ladies
for behaving so outrageously in the presence of this "most proper
young gentleman" (5:63; S 755). The irritation that the name causes,
and his resentment toward Tamakazura for calling attention to it, are
here expressed in uretashi'.
Jiju no kimi, mamebito no na o uretashi to omoikereba . . . (5:64; S 7 5 6 )

The chamberlain [Kaoru] found his nickname, "that proper young
gentleman," most irritating.
[NKBZ] Jiju no kimi wa, mamebito to iu adana o hidoku nasakenai to
omotta no de . . . (5:63)
THE TALE OF GENJh "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 171
[T] Sore o go-tdnin mo o-kikitsuke nasarete, "mamebito " to wa nasa-

kenai na o tsukerareta monoyo to o-omoi ni naru. (16:145-46/5:103/
8:28)
[A] Gen nojiju wa kimajime-otoko to iwareta koto o zannengatte . . .
(5:122)
Both NKBZ and Tanizaki again choose nasakenai; Akiko trans-

lates uretashi as zannengatte (gives the appearance of resenting). Both
of these choices convey an important element of Kaoru's resentment—
the self-pity, the irritation, the mortification. NKBZ follows the origi-
nal syntax, but Akiko replaces the to omou construction with the affix
-garu, a subtly effective touch which, almost visibly, renders the "direct-
edness" of uretashi that has been lost in most of its modern equivalents.
The tenth and final example of uretashi occurs in the 'Azumaya'

(The Eastern Cottage) chapter. Even after Nakanokimi's marriage to
his rival Niou, Kaoru cannot bring himself completely to abandon his
designs on her. She attempts diplomatically to divert his advances by
mentioning the presence of an "image" (Ukifune) to which he might
transfer his affections, and he, with equal indirection, but no ambigu-
ity, makes clear his resentment at her kind rebuff:
"Tsui niyoru se wa, saranari ya. Ito uretaki yd naru, mizu no awa ni
mo arasoi haberu kana. . . . " (6:47; S 951)
"Yes, of course, I [Kaoru] shall ultimately 'come to rest upon some
shoal.' But how maddening it is as one jostles, as it were, with the
foam upon the waters. . . . "
[NKBZ] "Tsui ni yoru se wa aru to iimasu ga, imasara sore wa mosu
made mo nai koto desuyo. Mattaku nasakenai o-shiuchi no tsurasa wa,
hakanai mizu no awa ni hariau yd na mono de gozaimasu ne. . . ."
(6:47-48)
[T] "'Tsui ni yoru se' wa doko ni aru no ka, mosu made mo nai de wa
arimasen ka. Sore ni tsuketemo, toritome no nai mizu no awa to hakana-
sa o arasou mi na no desho ka " (20:52-53/6:128/9:153-54)13
l
[A] " Tsui ni yoru se' (Onusa to na ni koso tat ere nagaretemo tsui no
yoru se wa arikeru mono o) wa doko de aru to watashi ga omotte iru
koto wa anata ni dake wa o-wakari ni naru hazu desu shi, sono hanashi
no ho no wa hakanai mizu no awa to arasotte nagareru nademono de
13. The only change Tanizaki made to his versions of the passages quoted here was to omit the
phrase sore ni tsuketemo from his second and third translations.
172 CHAPTER EIGHT
shika nai no desu kara, anata no o-kotoba no yd ni taishita koka o watashi

ni motarashite kure mo shinai desho." (6:146)
"You alone ought to know just where I think the 'shoal upon which
I [Kaoru] shall ultimately come to rest' is; and since that [the "im-
age" Nakanokimi has mentioned] is no more than a nademono doll
which jostles and flows with the evanescent foam upon the waters;
it is likely to do as little for me as your words."
An allusive comment of this sort is a translator's nightmare, so

it is hardly a wonder that the three renditions cited here differ so.
NKBZ again substitutes nasakenai for uretashi and may in addition in-
tend that tsurasa work in combination with it. It manages to remain
syntactically faithful by identifying the yd of the original as o-shiuchi
no tsurasa (the pain of your actions), while relegating explanatory
material to the headnotes. Tanizaki is fairly restrained in eking out
the implicit meanings of the allusions in the translation itself; this he
is able to do because he employs headnotes throughout, though not
to the extent of an edition such as NKBZ.14 In Akiko's highly exegeti-
cal translation, the feeling of uretaki is spread throughout the latter
half of the sentence, but with no particular word(s) or phrase corre-
sponding directly to it. Lacking the benefit of notes to bolster her
translation (though in this case she resorts to the bracketed inclusion
of the poem alluded to), Akiko almost totally replaces Kaoru's cryptic
complaint with an exposition of its implied meanings.
We have seen that Murasaki Shikibu, whether she employs

uretashi for jocular effect, or to express the deepest sort of resent-
ment, seems never to use the word in disregard of its sharp edges and
pointed reference. What, then, do the renditions examined above re-
veal of the translators' understanding of her use of the word, and the
strategies they employ to render it into modern Japanese?
NKBZ is the most mechanical of the three translations in its
handling oi uretashi. In five cases it simply substitutes imaimashii, and
in four cases nasakenai. In one case it departs from this pattern to use
urameshii. NKBZ is also the most syntactically faithful of the three.
14. In his headnote to this passage, Tanizaki provides both text and gloss of the he monogatari
poem alluded to by Kaoru.
THE TALE OF GENJh "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 17 3
Given the purposes of the translation—to help the reader follow the
original text printed immediately above it—the rather rigid strategies
of synonym substitution and syntactic fidelity are by no means flaws.
To the student, a literal translation may be of more use than the imagi-
native art of a writer/translator.
Tanizaki's rendition also reveals a high degree of syntactic fi-
delity. He tends, too, to favor the synonym-substitution method of
translation, using shingai na/da three times and nasakenai/tsurenai a
further three times. In two other instances, however, he seems to miss
the fundamental emotion of resentment in uretashi, translating it as
kanashii. His, we might say, is the translation of a talented reader who
comes to the text as an adult and thus lacks the confidence of the
scholar or native speaker of the original language.
Akiko, by contrast, commands a repertoire of translation strat-
egies that is decidedly more various than those of the other transla-
tors. She never translates uretashi in the same way twice. As a result,
her translations can be more finely tuned to the individual quality of
the situations in which each instance of uretashi occurs. Her "take" on
the text is spontaneous and broad of reach rather than considered and
narrowly focused; she is translating sentence-by-sentence, not word-
by-word; she is translating style as well as meaning. Nowhere, to be
sure, does she claim such an aim for her translation; but the following
remark, apparently a response to Masamune Hakucho's famous paean
to Arthur Waley's English version of Genji,15 does suggest that such
would be her approach:
A work of literature in translation is not identical to the original

work; it is a new creation that mimics the original in another lan-
guage. And being written in another language, it goes without say-
ing that it never can be the same, even if it happens to be trans-
lated by the writer of the original.
For this reason, the gentleman who says that he recently read
the translation of The Tale ofGenji by the Englishman Waley, and
because it was so beautifully written felt that for the first time he
could understand the original Genji, is quite mistaken. Literature
is not to be read for meaning alone; it must be read as well for its
15. Masamune Hakucho, "Saikinno shukaku—Eiyaku Genji monogatari sono ta—," in Masamune
Hakucho zenshu (Shinchosha, 1967), 7:184-88.
174 CHAPTER EIGHT
own unique language (tokushu na gengo). The Tale ofGenji, there-

fore, does not exist independently of the beauty of Murasaki
Shikibu's language. Waley's translation no doubt has its own fresh-
ness and value as English literature; and in this sense it is only
proper to praise and appreciate Waley. But The Tale ofGenji itself
can be criticized only on the basis of reading the original text.16
And although as a non-native speaker of Japanese one must be scepti-

cal of one's own judgments on matters of language, Akiko seems, at
least in this small sampling, the most sensitive reader of the situations
here depicted and the style in which they are couched; and the most
versatile in adapting the modern language to them. In a few cases her
translations are not simply sensitive and versatile but ingenious—as
in her use of zannen to describe Genji's controlled but nonetheless
raw resentment toward a woman who has refused him; her sukoshi no
urameshiku nai koto wa nai for Genji's double-edged feelings of grati-
tude and mortification; her komatta mono da for Yugiri's hollow pro-
testations of persecution. None of these translations would have been
possible without departing from the standard repertoire of lexicogra-
phers and the strategies of synonym-substitution.
How, then, does the evidence of this brief analysis bear upon
the questions posed at the beginning of the chapter? In chapter five it
was noted how drastic a departure from the practice of her immediate
predecessors Akiko's adoption of the colloquial style in her transla-
tion was. In chapter seven, we followed the subsequent development
of a more scholarly interest in Genji, an interest that led to the pro-
duction of a commentary (written, it would appear, in a decidedly
classical style), an edition of the text of Genji, and a pioneering biog-
raphy of Murasaki Shikibu. In the present chapter, we have seen evi-
dence of the continuation of both tendencies in her last translation of
Genji, the Shin-shin'yaku. Here the more scholarly Akiko is no longer
willing to cut and rewrite as she did in her first translation, and close
scrutiny of her new translations shows them to be incisively precise;
yet the language of those translations remains as thoroughly collo-
16. Excerpt from "Tohakutei zakki" (1934), in Akiko koten kansho, vol. 4 of Yosano Akiko senshu,
ed. Yosano Hikaru and Shinma Shin'ichi (Shinshusha, 1967), 144.
THE TALE OF GENJh "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 17 5
quial as ever. In short, her adoption of the colloquial, the genbunHtchi

of the novelist, remains the central, constant feature of her transla-
tion style; and it is in no way vitiated by her steadily growing schol-
arly bent. We must return, therefore, to the question of how she was
able to effect so radical a change in translation style in the first place
if we are to understand how that style retained its vitality throughout
a career that changed so much in other ways. Unfortunately, the ques-
tion of the origins of Akiko's translation style is all but totally ignored
by scholars of her work, and she herself is silent on the matter. Yet
one need only recall the extremity of her departure, and the tone of
wonder with which it was received—even by as austere a figure as
Ogai—to realize that the question remains unanswered.
Although we lack any direct attempt by scholars of Japanese
literature to come to terms with this question, we are not without
hints to possible approaches. One of these is Mitani Kuniaki's com-
ment that Akiko's first colloquial translation "shows clearly" that she
has made use of Kigin's Kogetsusho.11 Mitani does not explicitly link
the Kogetsusho with the development of Akiko's translation style, but
the suggestion bears further investigation, for Elgin's work is of some
importance in the early history of the translation of the Japanese clas-
sics. As is well known, the Kogetsusho is not merely a commentary.
Although its frequent interlinear glosses are normally regarded as
commentarial devices, they can also be seen as precursors to vernacu-
lar translation. It may be well, therefore, to examine the critical appa-
ratus of the Kogetsusho as a possible source of Akiko's phraseology.
Apart from headnotes that consist mainly of quotations from
earlier commentaries, the Kogetsusho provides readers with four sorts
of aids: furi-kanji, furigana, identification of subjects, and interlinear
glosses translating into the colloquial of his day phrases that Kigin
thinks may be unclear. Only the last of these need concern us here.
To take a couple of examples from the 'Hana no En' chapter, in the
17. Specifically, the 1890-91 edition of Kogetsusho edited by Inokuma Natsuki. "This version of
the text of Genji determined the Meiji period reading [of Genji\; many [published] lecture
notes, as well as . . . [Sassa et al.'s] Shinshaku Genji monogatari and Yosano Akiko's colloquial
translation show clearly that this Kogetsusho text has been used." Mitani Kuniaki, "Meiji-ki no
Genji monogatari kenkyu," Kokubungaku: kaishaku to kansho 48.10 (July 1983): 53.
176 CHAPTER EIGHT
sentence Yo itofukete namu, koto hatekeru (The night grew late, and it
came to an end, 1:425) koto hatekeru is glossed hana no en hateshi nari
(the cherry blossom festival ended). Genji's meshiyosetaritomo, nanjo
koto ka aran (even if you summon someone, what is to come of it?
1:427) is glossed hito o yobitamautomo nanigoto ka aran to nari (this
means even if you call someone it would be of no avail). In this way
the interlinear notes frequently translate for the reader whole phrases
or even short sentences.
Comparing Akiko's Shin'yaku versions of 'Hana no En' and
'Maboroshi' with the Kogetsusho texts of these chapters, however, one
finds no evidence that she has borrowed her phraseology from Kigin
or the commentators he cites. On the other hand, it is not impossible
that she has taken matters of detail from the Kogetsusho: like Kigin,
she identifies the Naden with the Shinshinden; similarly, the haru no
uguisu saezuru to iu mai is identified as the dance otherwise known as
the Shun'dten. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine where else she might
have come by information of this sort. Akiko was certainly familiar
with Kjgin's work, because in her afterword to the Shin'yaku she stoutly
denies its usefulness:
Needless to say, I do not hold in high regard any of the existing

commentaries on The Tale ofGenji. In particular, I find the Kogetsu-
sho a careless work that misinterprets the original.18
On the basis of this partial examination, however, it seems unlikely

that the style of her first translation is based upon the Kogetsusho.
Another hint as to the sources of Akiko's language is Shinma's
observation that when she began work on the Shin'yaku, she had al-
ready accumulated a good deal of experience in the writing of collo-
quial prose in the form of short pieces of drama and fiction, and that
this practice probably contributed materially to her style. Shinma's
further suggestion that her style in the Shin'yaku may have been in-
spired by the current vogue for "naturalist literature" {shizenshugi bun-
(Kanao Bun'endd, 1912-13), 4:3.
gaku) thus raises the possibility that her choice of language was in
part "political." Shinma pursues the idea no further, but it is well
known that the vernacularization of literature was debated vigorously
by Akiko's older contemporaries, and that writers' views on this mat-
ter could affect profoundly the language of their writings.19 Might
not the same be true of Akiko herself? If her style were intended as a
"statement," a position taken in opposition to another that she re-
jects, we might expect to find some evidence, or even an exposition of
this position, elsewhere in her oeuvre. Yet as far as I have been able to
ascertain, she gives no indication in any of her writings that she ever
pondered the use of other styles, as Ozaki K5yd did, or that she placed
herself consciously under the influence of any philosophy of style, as
the Ken'yusha coterie of writers did. The most we can conclude from
her silence is that the stylistic trends of her day may well have worked
as an enabling factor, in conjunction with more direct causes, in the
determination of her translation style.
In the absence of the evidence needed to elevate the forego-
ing conjectures to the level of working hypotheses, I would venture a
third suggestion, no less speculative, but based at least upon frag-
ments of Akiko's own testimony. Repeated reference has been made
to Akiko's reticence to speak of her work on Genji and her silence on
the matter of her translation style. In one sense, however, this silence
is only seeming. One sets out in search of evidence of the influence of
Kigin and/or the political concerns of her day—-and finds none. Yet
again and again Akiko herself points to the influence of Murasaki
Shikibu:
From the age of eleven or twelve, Murasaki Shikibu has been my

teacher. I have no idea how many times I read through The Tale of
Genji before I turned twenty. Her writing captivated me that much.
I was entirely self-taught; Murasaki Shikibu and I faced one an-
other with no intermediary, just the two of us; and so I feel that I
have had The Tale of Genji from the very mouth of this great woman
of letters. (19:258)
19. See, for example, P. F. Kornicki, "The Novels of Ozaki Koyo," (D. Phil diss., University of
Oxford, 1979), 170-82; Nanette Twine, Language and the Modern State: The Reform of
Written Japanese (London: Routledge, 1991), 132-62.
178 CHAPTER EIGHT
As a result Akiko was, as we have seen, virtually bilingual in classical

and modern Japanese:
That I was early able to understand what Japanese literature is
about is because Murasaki Shikibu was my teacher. Moreover,
because of this, as a young girl the strength of my memory and my
powers of comprehension were developed, and as a result, after I
had read Genji I didn't find reading other classical works in the
least bit difficult. To this day I know much of Genji by heart; I
remember the representative literary and historical works from
each period in great detail; and I am able to lecture to students—
all because at the beginning I had the good fortune to read Mura-
saki Shikibu carefully. (19:258)
The effect of this "bilingualism" upon her work on the Shin-

shindyaku is vividly described by her disciple Yuasa Mitsuo, who sat in
her study and watched her "pen race across the page" as she took in
the original with a glance to the left, and with barely a pause, re-cast
what she had read as modern Japanese with her right hand.20 This is
not so much "translation" as simultaneous interpretation with a pen.
No pauses to ponder what the right word might be, or how the words
might best be ordered. Hardly any intervention of discursive thought.
Apparently no stopping to look up anything in the dictionary. Might
not this relationship to her work—and her author—offer a key to the
style of her translation and the radical break with her predecessors
that it represents? The evidence of the foregoing analysis of her Shin-
shin 'yaku tends to support such a view.
C. S. Lewis, in describing how he "learned rather laboriously
from [his] own reading some things that could have been learned more
quickly from the N.E.D.," has this to say of the process:
One understands a word much better if one has met it alive, in its
native habitat. So far as is possible our knowledge should be
checked and supplemented, not derived, from the dictionary.21
Lewis's phrase describes perfectly Akiko's encounter with Genji. She

"met it alive," in almost the same "native habitat" as the Sarashina
20. Yuasa Mitsuo, "Akiko Genji to Kanao Bun'endo," Nihon kosho tsushin 39.2 (February 1974): 5;
see chapter seven, p. 152.
21. C. S. Lewis, Studies in Words, 2d. ed. (1967; reprint, Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press/Canto, 1990), 2.
THE TALE OF GENJL "MY WHOLE LIFE'S WORK" 17 9
diarist did. As a young woman she had read the text many times over
"with no intermediary," that is, without the help of teachers, dictio-
naries, or commentaries. In this, her "meeting" with the text stands
in direct contrast with those of her immediate predecessors, for whom,
it appears, Genji had always been an object of study. For them, Genji
was koten, a venerated classic, written in an ancient language and ex-
plicated in a learned language. It is hardly to their discredit that, thus
disposed, they should think a translation in the genbun Htchi style would
be "too modern," that "the elegance of the original would be lost,"
that in the end their translation strategies should be commentarial
strategies in disguise. For Akiko, however, Genji was also a shosetsu, a
novel, written in the genbunHtchi of its author's day. What could be
more natural than to translate it into the genbunHtchi of Akiko's own
day? For her, this was neither a radical departure from tradition nor a
political declaration; it was simply a form of faithfulness to her au-
thor. As something like a "native speaker" of Heian Japanese, she had
no need to consult commentaries (as the NKBZ translators do fre-
quently) or seek the assistance of specialist scholars (as Tanizaki did
from Yamada Yoshio). Her translations, therefore, display not so much
consistent responses to recurrent words as varied versions of indi-
vidual situations. It is a mark of how naturally her style came to her
that she herself never called it genbunHtchi or kogo. As we have seen,
she speaks simply of "writing Genji"
As Akiko develops a more scholarly interest in Genji, this work
too is characterized by the same flexibility. The evidence is scant, but
it seems certain that she wrote her massive commentary not in the
modern colloquial style of her translations, but in the learned lan-
guage of her scholarly predecessors.22 We have seen, too, how her last
translation shows much more of a scholar's concern for the integrity
of the text. Yet the language of her last Genji is not a whit less collo-
quial than that of her first. Freedom of rendition is combined with a
fine sense of nuance. Far from sensing a conflict between the two
"Genji-worlds" that she now inhabits, she credits the lessons she learnt
in the one for her success in the other. Her "unshakable confidence"
in her philological grasp of Genji, acquired in the course of countless
22. See chapter seven, p. 139.

180 CHAPTER EIGHT
readings of Genji the (women's) romance, was the indispensable pre-

condition of her work on Genji the (men's) classic.
Akiko, we might conclude, was decidedly a modern, but one
with a private vision; a writer of her age, but by no means typical of
her age. Fortunately it was an age in which her emulation of the life
and work of a paragon of a millennium past struck her contemporar-
ies (and many of our own) as the very height of both literary and
academic modernity.
Epilogue
On 6 May 1940 Akiko suffered a cerebral hemorrhage that

left her an invalid for the remainder of her life. Appropriately enough,
it would seem that thoughts of Genji occupied her mind almost until
the very end. This we know from no less a witness than Ikeda Kikan
(1896-1956), one of the twentieth century's most eminent scholars of
Genji. On 5 May, the day before she collapsed, Ikeda visited Akiko at
her home in Ogikubo. Ten years later, he recalled the visit in the fol-
lowing account:
I had urgent business and unannounced I visited her house in
Ogikubo. . . . That day Akiko seemed livelier than usual. After we
had dealt with our business, as ever our talk turned to Genji. I
have no objection to her positing a structural break between 'Fuji
no Uraba' and 'Wakana jo,' but I was unable to accept her opinion
that Daini no Sanmi had written all of the chapters from 'Wakana'
on. She was a person who stated her opinions gently, but never
would she retreat from them. And so I began to feel "What's with
this woman!" (Nani o kono obasan!) For more than thirty minutes
we argued fiercely; then suddenly she got up and went off into her
study. When at length she returned, she held two beautiful sheets
of tinted card (shikishi) in her hand, one a faint green and the other
pale crimson. She handed them to me with a smile saying, "Some-
thing to remember this by." On the two tinted cards were the fol-
lowing poems, beautifully written.
Suma no yama fuji mo sakura mo osanakere

kyo no runin no kozo ueshigoto.l
Mere saplings both, the wisteria and the cherry in the mountains of Suma,
planted last year by the exile from the capital.
1. Not collected in TYAZ.
181
182 EPILOGUE
Hana mireba omiya no he no koishiki to

Genji ni kakeru Sumazakura saku. (7:456) 2
The Suma cherries described in Genji bloom, those of which Genji says
"Whenever I see the blossoms I long for the palace."
I was overwhelmed. I felt ashamed of the harsh things I had

said. Of course I had no regrets for the myriad of manuscripts I
had collated, the commentary I had contributed, for my studies of
the structure [of Genji], nor even for my for youth, every day of
which for the past twenty years I had given over to Genji. But as
far as my life being touched by the classics was concerned, I was
far the inferior of this lone, elderly woman. Was my scholarship
then destined to rot away? I was depressed.
As I left, the red of the azaleas, heartlessly it seemed, forced
itself upon my perception, and I realize now that this was the last
day in this present world that I was to discuss Genji with my wor-
thy opponent, so deserving of respect. The next day, the sixth, she
collapsed of a cerebral hemorrhage, and although she made a brief
recovery, in the end she was unable to stand again and she passed
away.
I wonder if this year too the red azaleas bloom in the garden
of that house in Ogikubo where their mistress no longer lives?3
As ever, we are left with as many questions as answers. What

was Ikeda's "urgent business" with Akiko? Did it concern their work
with the classics? How long, and in what circumstances, had Ikeda
and Akiko been meeting to discuss—and argue over—Genji} One thing
at least is clear, however: Ikeda the Genji scholar could see the degree
to which Akiko's had been a life "touched by the classics." Her one
book, The Tale of Genji, had been, quite literally, her "whole life's work."
2. In both of these poems Akiko refers to a scene from the 'Suma' chapter of Genji: "The New
Year came to Suma, the days were longer, and time went by slowly. The sapling cherry
Genji had planted the year before sent out a scattering of blossoms, the air was soft and
warm, and memories flooded back, bringing him often to tears" (Seidensticker's transla-
tion, 2:204; S 243). There is no mention of wisteria (fuji) in the chapter.
3. Ikeda Kikan, Hana o oru (Chuo Koronsha, 1959), 186-88.
Appendix A:
Akiko's Publications on the Japanese Classics
What follows is as full a list as I have been able to prepare of Akiko's

publications on The Tale ofGenji and other Japanese classics, arranged
in order of appearance. In the case of some of Akiko's essays, where I
have been unable to verify place of first publication, I have noted in-
stead the name and date of the collection of Akiko's essays in which
the piece later appeared. A page reference to Teihon Yosano Akiko zenshu
{TYAZ) is provided for those works which are collected there.
"Ise monogatari hyowa." Myojo, no. 14 (August 1901): 21-26 [with

Ochiai Naobumi, Yosano Tekkan and three others]; no. 15 (Sep-
tember 1901): 60-63 [with other members of the Shinshisha].
Review of Eiga monogatari shokai, by Wada Hidematsu and Sat5 Kyu.
Myojo 8.5 (May 1907): 104-6.
"Te no ue no kori." Josbi bundan 4.5 (April 1908): 5-8.
"Sei Shonagon no kotodomo." In Hitosumi yori. Kanao Bun'endS,
1911; TYAZ 14:56-65.
"Genji Tamakazura." Mitsukoshi 1.9 (October 1911). A draft of the
'Tamakazura' chapter from Shin'yaku Genji monogatari. Unseen.
"Genji Sekiya." Subaru 4.1 January 1912): 169-72. A draft of the
'Sekiya' chapter from Shin'yaku Genji monogatari.
"Genji monogatari ni arawaretaru hitobito." Shincho 16.5 (May 1912):
92-97.
Shin'yaku Genji monogatari. 4 vols. Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13.
Shin'yaku Eiga monogatari. 3 vols. Kanao Bun'endo, 1914-15. Re-
printed in Koten Nihon bungaku zenshu 9. Chikuma Shobo, 1962.
183
184 APPENDIX A
Tokugawa jidaijoryil bungaku: Reijo shosetsushu. 2 vols. Fuzanbo, 1915.

Akiko edited this collection of "shosetsu" (in this case yomihon) by
Arakida Rei (1732-1806). Volume one includes two introductory
essays by Akiko: "Reijo shosetsushu o yo ni susumeru ni tsuite,"
and "Arakida Reiko [sic] shoden."
"Murasaki Shikibu no kotodomo." In Hito oyobi onna toshite. TengendS
Shob5, 1916; TYAZ 15:117-26.
"Murasaki Shikibu to sono jidai." In Hito oyobi onna toshite; TYAZ
15:127-29.
"Heian-cho no koi." In Hito oyobi onna toshite; TYAZ 15:153-59.
Shin 'yaku Murasaki Shikibu nikki shin 'yaku Izumi Shikibu nikki. Kanao
Bun'endS, 1916.
Shin'yaku Tsurezuregusa. Oranda Shobo, 1916. Includes a preface,
"Shin'yakuTsurezuregusanohajimeni/'pp. 1-18. Reprinted 1922.
"Murasaki Shikibu no koshS." In Warera nani o motomuru ka. Tengend5
Shobo, 1917; TYAZ 15:418-19.
"Murasaki Shikibu no nikki ni kansuru watakushi no hakken." In Ai,
risei oyobiyuki. Oranda Shobo, 1917; TYAZ 16:49-61.
"Murasaki Shikibu no teiso ni tsuite." In Wakaki tomo e. Hakusuisha,
1918; TYAZ 16:370-71.
"Izumi Shikibu kashu." In Meicho hydron bunshu 1. Kobunkan, 1919
[with Hiroshi]. This edition appears to be a reprint of Meicho kogai
oyobi hydron sosho 11. Meicho Hydronsha, 1915. I have not seen
the 1915 publication. Reprinted 1936.
"Genji monogatari raisan." Myojo, 2nd ser. 1.3 (January 1922): 3-8;
TYAZ 4:323-31.
"Emaki no tame ni," set of eighty tanka consisting of the fifty-four
'Genji monogatari raisan' poems, twenty-one poems on topics
from Eiga monogatari, and five poems on topics from Heike
monogatari. In Ryusei no michi. Shinchdsha, 1924; TYAZ4:323-36.
"Heian-cho no josei." JW/ kaizo 3.9 (September 1924): 64-69.
"Koten no kenkyu." Myojo, 2nd ser., 6.2 (February 1925): 148-51;
TYAZ 19:84-86.
"Nihon koten zenshu kanko shushi." Myojo, 2nd ser., 7.3 (September
1925): 130-31 [with Hiroshi and Masamune Atsuo].
"Genji monogatari kaidai." In Genji monogatari. 5 vols. Nihon koten
zenshu series. Nihon Koten Zenshu Kankokai, 1926, 1:1-8.
AKIKO'S PUBLICATIONS ON THE JAPANESE CLASSICS 185
"Eiga monogatari jSkan kaidai," and "Eiga monogatari gekan kaidai."

In Eiga monogatari. 3 vols. Nihon koten zenshu series. Nihon
Koten Zenshu Kankdkai, 1926, 1:1-12 and 3:1-9. Reprinted in
Rekishi monogatari I. Edited by Masubuchi Katsuichi, Nihon
bungaku kenkyu shiryd sdsho series. Yuseidd, 1971, 31-40.
"Mid5 kanpaku ki kaidai," and "Mid5 kanpaku kashu no nochi ni." In
Mido kanpaku ki. 2 vols. Nihon koten zenshu series. Nihon Koten
Zenshu Kankokai, 1926, 1:1-12 and 2:1-4 at end of volume.
"Genji monogatari koyo jo." In Genji monogatari koyb, by Fujita
Tokutaro. Furokaku Shobo, 1928, 1-9.
"Murasaki Shikibu shinkS." Taiyo (January, February 1928). Reprinted
in Genji monogatari I. Edited by Mitani Kuniaki, Nihon bungaku
kenkyu shiryS sosho series. Yuseid5, 1969, 1-16. TYAZ 12:478-
508.
"Izumi Shikibu shink5." In TYAZ 12:509-51. The essay is a revised
version of three articles that appeared in Josei 13.1, 13.2 and 13.3
(January, February and March 1928), but I have not seen these
earlier publications.
"Izumi Shikibu no uta." In Tanka koza 8. Kaizosha, 1932, 75-88.
"Murasaki Shikibu—Nihon josei retsuden." Fujin koron 20.9 (Septem-
ber 1935): 214-17.
Heiancho joryu nikki. Gendaigoyaku kokubungaku zenshu series 9.
Hibonkaku, 1938, containing Akiko's translation of Kagero nikki,
as well as reprints of Shin 'yaku Izumi Shikibu nikki and Shin yyaku
Murasaki Shikibu nikki.
"Sawarabi Genji." Tohaku 10.3 (March 1939): 38-49. A draft of the
'Sawarabi' chapter from Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari.
"Ukifune." Tohaku 10.5 (May 1939): 51-59; 10.7 (July 1939): 10-19;
10.8 (August 1939): 57-66; 10.9 (September 1939): 42-45; and
10.10 (October 1939): 48-53. A serialization of the 'Ukifane' chap-
ter, also from Shin-shin yyaku Genji monogatari.
Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari. 6 vols. Kanao Bun'endo, 1938-39.
Kashu Izumi Shikibu. Naigai Shuppansha, 1939 [with Hiroshi]. Un-
seen, but almost certainly a reprint of "Izumi Shikibu kashu."
Meicho hyoronshu 1. Kdbunkan, 1919.
[Kogai] Genji monogatari. Edited by Tsurumi Daigaku Bungakubu.
Yokohama: Tsurumi Daigaku, 1993.
Appendix B:
Selected Translations
I: "AFTER SHIN'YAKU GENJI MONOGATARI"
I began writing the present work in January of Meiji 44 [1911],

and by October of Taisho 2 [1913] I had completed it. During these
few short years, I was unable to spend all of my time preparing the
translation. I was perpetually pushed to the limit by the pressure of
work, both with my family and in my study. During this time I trav-
eled to Europe and I was twice confined; one of these confinements
was a difficult birth in which my life was at risk.1 Nonetheless, sus-
tained by the interest that I have had in the original work since I was
twelve or so, the translation has been the core of my work for the past
three years, and by dint of these meager efforts, I have been able to com-
plete it earlier than we had initially planned. In retrospect, I am not with-
out a feeling of relief that I have managed to accomplish this feat.
The Tale of Genji is my favorite book among the classics [koten]
of our country. To be frank, when it comes to the understanding and
appreciation of this novel [shosetsu], I have the stubborn confidence of
a master.
As regards my approach to the translation process, in the same
way that in painting circles beginners may venture free renditions in
order to emulate masterpieces from earlier ages, I eliminated those
fine points which, being alien to modern life, we have no sympathy
with nor interest in, and the excessive nicety of which needlessly puts
[readers] off; my principal endeavor was to delineate the spirit of the
original using the instrument of the modern language. I endeavored
1. See chapter four, p. 80, n. 23.
186
SELECTED TRANSLATIONS 187
to be both scrupulous and bold. I did not always adhere to the expres-
sions of the original author; I did not always translate literally. Hav-
ing made the spirit of the original my own, I then ventured a free
translation.
Needless to say, I do not hold in high regard any of the exist-
ing commentaries on The Tale ofGenji. In particular, I find Kogetsusho
a careless work that misinterprets the original.
For the reason that I did not feel that any more was necessary,
I have attempted a somewhat abbreviated translation of the chapters
following the first chapter 'Kiritsubo,' as these are chapters which
have long been widely read and offer few difficulties. From the sec-
ond volume of the present work, however, for the benefit of those
who might find it difficult to read the original, I paid careful atten-
tion to the meaning and adopted the method of virtually complete
translation.
The Tale ofGenji can be divided into two large parts: the part
in which Hikari [sic] and Murasaki are the main characters, and the
part in which Kaoru and Ukifune are the main characters. When we
reach the ten Uji chapters in the second part, the extreme glitter and
refinement of the exquisite narrative of the first part give way to sim-
pler descriptive passages. This air of freshness, this sense of rejuvena-
tion, is the product of Murasaki Shikibu's genius, ever vigorous, at
which one can only marvel. If there are those who do not go as far as
the ten Uji chapters when reading The Tale of Genji, they cannot be
called people who have read the whole of Murasaki Shikibu.
None of the principal characters in The Tale ofGenji, neither
men nor women, are given names. Therefore, past readers have bor-
rowed words from poems with which the characters are associated,
using them as nicknames. For the sake of convenience, I have fol-
lowed these customary appellations in the present work.
At the outset, when the first volume of the present work was
published, Mori [Ogai] Sensei and Ueda [Bin] Sensei—whom I have
held in high regard since the time when I read Mesamashigusa and
Bungakkai—both Doctors of Letters, were good enough to bestow
upon this witless author prefaces she did not deserve. Such encour-
agement I shall ever esteem. Nor I alone; the author's descendants
shall likewise long regard it an honor.
188 APPENDIX B
I am grateful, too, to the master artist Nakazawa,2 who from

beginning to end, and always consulting the author's wishes, has de-
voted enormous effort to the illustrations and decoration of the book.
His great talents have brought to life the tremendous diversity of
scenes contained in the fifty-four chapters, giving the book a striking
luster. There are not a few illustrated scrolls of The Tale of Genji in
existence, but this master's illustrations are the first to develop a new
approach in the European style.
In order to read The Tale of Genji, it is necessary to understand
the Heian court and the lives of the nobility that formed its back-
ground. Therefore, following upon the present work, I have turned
my attention to a new translation oiEiga monogatari, a realistic novel
[shajitsu shosetsu] that takes the history of that period as its subject.
In conclusion, I wish to add that in the summer of last year, in
Paris, I personally presented copies of the first two volumes of this
work to the sculptor Auguste Rodin Sensei, and the poet Henri de
Regnier Sensei.3 Rodin Sensei looked through the illustrations and,
exclaiming all the while over the beauty of the Japanese woodblock
prints, he said:
The number of people in France and in Japan studying the lan-
guage and thought of our two countries will gradually increase. I
bitterly regret being unable to read Japanese, but I trust that one
day in the future I shall be able to appreciate the thought of this
book by means of a friend's translation.
The memory of his words is still fresh in my mind.

Taish6 2 [1913], October
Yosano Akiko4
II: "AFTERWORD," SHIN-SHIN'YAKU GENJI MONOGATARI
At this point in history there is no need to explain the value of

the vast Tale of Genji, that immortal shining light of Oriental literature.
2. "Nakazawa Gahaku," that is, Nakazawa Hiromitsu (1874-1964).

3. Henri de Regnier (1864-1936) was a French writer associated with the Symbolist movement.
(Kanao Bun'endo, 1912-13), 4:1-7 at end of volume.
Twenty years ago, at the behest of the owner of Kanao

Bun'endo, I translated The Tale ofGenji in abbreviated form. This was
the Shinyyaku Genji monogatari. Included were prefaces by the two
Doctors of Letters, Mori Rintaro and Ueda Bin, and illustrations by
the master artist, Nakazawa Hiromitsu. For the past twenty-some years
I have felt ashamed of my crude translation, which is a sin against
these three Sensei. It has been my hope that as an apology to the
three Sensei, I might one day be able to rewrite it as a complete ver-
sion, but the realization of this was difficult. Seven years ago, in the
autumn [of 1932], I suddenly resolved that come what may, I had to
make the time to fulfill my responsibility to retranslate Genji, I began
writing immediately, and I continued writing; I hurried on lest what
was left of my life be over before I should finish. But in the spring of
1935 I lost my husband. Needless to say, the chores I had to do as sole
support of the family increased. On the other hand, I also felt that I
had not the strength in my crushed heart to do more than compose
poems. By that time, including the work done during my husband's
illness, I had gone as far as the 'Hashihime' chapter. I had not even
made a fair copy of the chapters after 'Wakana.' I wasted two years
staring at the Shin-shin'yaku manuscript piled up like a wall. It was
then that in Kyoto I met the head of Bun'endo, who had moved his
business to Osaka some years previously. He is a man who has been
good enough to favor me with his patronage ever since my earliest
collections of poetry. When I heard that he wanted to open up a branch
in Tokyo again, I told him of what I had done of Shin-shindyaku Genji
monogatari) and we agreed that it would be good if that should pro-
vide him with the opportunity of reopening in Tokyo. He was de-
lighted. He even went to pay his respects to a Kannon in which he
places great faith. He did not doubt that I had developed in the twenty-
eight years since I had handed over to him my first feeble efforts.
Now that at last the book has been published, I join my hands in
prayer to the Gods and Buddhas who have forgiven me the mortal
sins of my [earlier] methods.
I believe that The Tale of Genji is a work in two parts by two
authors, but I am unable to set forth my research on the matter in
detail here. It has long been said that the ten Uji chapters are the
work of Murasaki Shikibu's daughter Daini no Sanmi. Many Tokugawa
190 APPENDIX B
period scholars of National Learning denied this. Formerly I too was

so persuaded. In the Meiji period, when Dr. Kume Kunitake (1839—
1931) wrote in a Noh journal that Genji appears to have been written
by several people, I did not at all believe him, thinking that although
Dr. Kume was a first-rate scholar of history he was no scholar of lit-
erature. It was some years before I began work on the Shin-shin'yaku
that I realized that there were two authors of Genji. The work of the
first author ends at 'Fuji no Uraba'—everything is very auspicious,
and after Genji becomes Daijo Tenno everything is tinted in gold.
Undaunted, the second author begins to write about Genji facing a
turn in his fortunes. The woman he loved best, the lady Murasaki,
dies; and there is also Nyosan no Miya's [Onnasannomiya's] indiscre-
tion. In preparation for the birth of Kaoru, the main character of the
latter part, the court in the reign of the retired Emperor Suzaku is
suddenly introduced. Suzaku's pathetic fondness for Nyosan no Miya
prepares the way for the bounty of Kaoru; the skill with which the
novel is here structured surpasses that of the first part.
If one reads the original with care, one ought to notice that
from 'Wakana' on the style (bunsbo) is different. What had without
fail been kandachime^ tenjobito becomes shodayii, tenjobito, kandachime.
This should be immediately apparent to those who read a recent mov-
able type edition rather than an old manuscript or woodblock-printed
edition. The style is bad, and poems are fewer. Moreover, great po-
ems are exceedingly scarce. The first part, written by Murasaki
Shikibu, abounds in superb poems. Not that there are none whatso-
ever in the second part:
Me ni chikaku utsureba kawaru yo no naka o
yukusue toku tanomikeru kana?
Before my very eyes it changes, this bond between us;
and I trusted it to last for ever and ever.
Obotsukana tare ni towamashi ika ni shite
hajime mo hate mo shiranu waga mi zo.6
5. The lady Murasaki to Genji in 'Wakana jo,' 4:58; S 555. Translation by T. J. Harper, "More
Genji Gossip," in Journal of the Association of Teachers ofJapanese 28.2 (November 1994):
175-82.
6. Kaoru in 'Niou' (His Perfumed Highness), 5:18; S 737. Translation in Harper, "More Genji
Gossip," 181.
This uncertainty: whom might I ask; and why is it so?

I know nothing of whence I come or whither I shall go.
These superb poems closely resemble the first poem in the

autumn section of the Goshuishu [completed 1086], by Daini no Sanmi:
Harukanaru morokoshi made mo yuku mono wa
aki no nezame no kokoro narikeri.7
Waking, in the autumn,
it is as if one travels even to distant Cathay.
At the beginning of the 'Takekawa' chapter, which is couched

as a tale told by an elderly serving woman who had worked in the
household of the late Chancellor [Higekuro], it is written, "Murasaki
no yukari koyonaki niwa nizameredo"* This passage means: "what fol-
lows will not be of the same quality as the previous chapters written
by Murasaki Shikibu," and it is wrong of commentators to interpret it
as referring to the [character] lady Murasaki. It would be strange,
would it not, to draw a comparison between the descendants (yukari)
of the lady Murasaki, who had no children, and those of another house-
hold.
When I was doing this research in the past, I calculated twenty-
six years as the period between the writing of the first part [of Genji]
and the writing of the second part. The era of the Heian court had
already given way to an era in which provincial administrators using
military force were beginning to gain power. One such is the rich
man who, having been governor of Michinoku, becomes vice-gover-
nor of Hitachi.9
It is still possible to see a plaque in the hand of Emperor Go-
Reizei in the temple next door to the Byodo-in. In Chinese diaries
kept by men of the period, it is written that when Go-Reizei was Crown
Prince, he often went to visit the mansion of Yorimichi in Uji.10 Daini
7. The poem is actually the first in the second of the autumn chapters of the Senzaiwakashu
(completed 1187). Shinpen Kokka taikan, 1:191c, no. 302.
8. Cf. 5:53. S 751 gives "[i]t may not seem entirely in keeping with the story of Murasaki."
9. Ukifune's stepfather; see 5:448; S 920-21.
10. Fujiwara Yorimichi (992-1074), eldest son of Michinaga, and Regent for fifty-two years
during the reigns of Emperor Go-Ichijo (r. 1016-36), Go-Suzaku (r. 1036-45), and Go-
Reizei (r. 1045-68).
192 APPENDIX B
no Sanmi was Emperor Go-Reizei's wet-nurse; in his entourage she

went often to Uji and came to know the place well.
As for the poems, they are not as good as those of the author
of the first part, but neither are they ordinary. As a masterly novel in
the hand of one who had distinguished herself as a poet at that time,
I have searched high and low for Daini no Sanmi's personal poetry
collection (Daini no Sanmi no ie no shii), but it is no longer extant. I
carefully examined the Daini shu, which is listed in the catalogue of
Kogakukan in Ise, but it is the work of Sanmi's daughter, the woman
known [also] as Sanmi who served Go-Reizei's consort; and the com-
positions are far inferior to her mother's poems, let alone her
grandmother's.
By the time of the Sarashina nikki, Ukifune was already the
subject of conversation, but because the Sarashina nikki, which begins
with an account of the author's younger days, was written in her later
years, it is possible that she does not always remember correctly. Al-
though in my estimate of twenty-six years I took into account the
year in which the Sarashina diarist returned to the capital [c. 1020], I
may have overestimated this period.
The author whose style and narrative technique in 'Wakana'
is rough, has by 'Kashiwagi,' by 'Yugiri,' become a splendid writer. I
say this because the content [of these chapters] so abounds with ge-
nius. From 'Azumaya' on, her technique, quite as the content, is mag-
nificent. The author of the first part, Murasaki Shikibu, was extraor-
dinary as a novelist (shosetsu sakka) and as a poet (kajin); Daini no
Sanmi, who wrote the second part, was in my opinion a great general
practitioner of literature (bungakusha). It is a shame that I do not have
the time to explain this in more detail.
I am very happy that the artist with whom I am on the closest
terms, Masamune TokusaburS, has been good enough to design the
frontispiece and the bindings.
ShSwa 14 [1939]
Yosano Akiko11
11. Yosano Akiko, "Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki," translated from the reprint
in Akiko koten kansho, 37-39.
List of Characters
Abe Tomoji bushido

Akarumie Byodoin W-
Akebono Joshi Chikuhakuen
Amayo monogatari damikotoha Chikuhakuen Joshi tttfi
Chikuhakukai
Ando Tameakira cho »T
Ansei j£$k Chobunsai Eishi A ^ t ^
aoi H Cho Tsuratsune JKStli
Arakida Rei Chowa SfP
Arishima Ikuma Chitgaku sekai
Arishima Takeo Chuokoron
Arisugawa no Miya ChuoKoronsha
Asada Sada I Daini no Sanmi
Asahi shinbun H Dokuso ^M-
Asakasha £ | tt Eiga monogatari ^ I I
:
Asakusa $k% £fg^ monogatari shokai
Azumakagami
Ban Kokei tsuzoku sangokushi
Basho 12;
Bungakkai Emaki no tame ni (Dfz.
Bungei kurabu
bungo ^tlS FujiiShiei
Bunka Gakuin Fujimi-cho
193
194 LIST OF CHARACTERS
Fujita Tokutaro Genji monogatari raisan

Fujiwara Kinto
Fujiwara Koreyuki Genji monogatari taVi
Fujiwara Michinaga
Fujiwara Nobutaka Genji nannyo shozokusho
Fujiwara Sanesuke
Fujiwara Shunzei Genji shaku
Fujiwara Tametoki HJIjC 3k B# Genpei seisuiki
Fujiwara Teika gidayu M
Fujiwara Yorimichi gokanbon
Fujiwara Yukinari Gonki
Fujo no kagami Go-Reizei Tenno
Fujo shinhun Goshuifwakajshu
Fukagawa GotoShoko fe
furigana Y) Haginoya $cCQ#
furi-kanji Hagiwara Hiromichi
Furyubutsu
Furyu Genji monogatari haibun
Hakubunkanbon
fuseji Hana no ran
gabuntai Hatsukoi
gagaku Hayashi Takino
Gahosha ti Heike monogatari
geijutsu ?xW Higuchi Ichiyo
genbun'itchi Hiratsuka Raicho h V ^T 5
gendaigoyaku hoben ^ { g
Genji kokagami hon'an S ^
Genji monogatari Honchoreiso
Gen/z monogatari kogai Honjo ^ B f
Horiguchi Daigaku
Genji monogatari koyo Ho Shizu i l J g ^
HoSho
LIST OF CHARACTERS 195
hoshuka ffi junihitoe no haregi

Ho Soshichi
Ho Tsune M kabuki SRUft
Ho Zenshichi Kagamigusa ^
Honzo wamyo kagamimono M
Ichijo Kaneyoshi — (Kagawa) Kageki
Ichijo Tenno — ^ ^ c l l Kagero nikki Wt^ 0 IE
Ichikawa Chihiro ffTjl|:::p# Kagurazaka # ^ 5 S
/ga no taome Kaibara Ekiken Jt
IharaSaikaku Kamoko !§•?*
IkedaKikan Kamo no Mabuchi
IkedaToshio ? Kanao Bun'endo
Imakagami ^ M Kanao Tanejiro ^
Imameki no cbujo Kanda # H
Ino Koken Kanko HLÂ
Ise && Kansai bungaku
he monogatari Kansai Seinen Bungakkai
Ito Hirobumi
Itsumi Kumi Kanso magai mitate gundan
Iwamoto Zenji
Izumi Shikibu KanzawaTami
Izumi Shikibu nikki %U&^M 0 IE KanzawaToko
Jippensha Ikku kashihon'ya
jocho tf If Kato Umaki
Jogakuzasshi Kawai Suimei
joruri # i g Keichu ^ ^
Joshibundan keigo fScf§
Jujo Genji Keishu Bungakkai
Jun-Daijo Tenno 2 Keishu shosetsuka no kotae
Junichiro yaku Genji monogatari
Kenshi
Ken'yusha S l ^ t t kokubungakusha
Keriko J%-p* kokugaku ( S ^
kibun izxft Kokugakuin lU^
Kimata Osamu Jfci kokugakusha
Kimura Eiko kokumin H R
Kinki illWb Kokumin no tomo
Kinoshita Mokutaro kokuminsei \
Kishiya Seizo kokutai @f$
Kitamura Kigin Komyoji Saburo
Kitamura Koshun Konakamura Kiyonori
Kitayama Keita
Kobayashi Masaharu (Tenmin) Konakamura Yoshikata
Kobayashi Yuko Kono Tetsunan

Koda Rohan # | Koogi /hJH
Kogakukan Koshoku ichidai otoko
Koganei Kimi(ko) koten "S"A
Kogetsusho % koten H A
kogo Pf? Koten kokyusho
kohanpon Koten koshuka
Koigoromo $£ Kotoba no izumi Cl t.
Koi murasaki Kotoba no tama no o fp
koi-murasaki kouta /h^l
Kojiki Kuga Katsunan $M
Kojikiden kugiri E " ^ *9
Kojimachi Kujo Tanemichi f\
Kumazawa Banzan
Kokinfwakajsbu Kume Kunitake
kokkeibon kumikyoku Iflft
Kokoro no bana Kunikida Doppo
kokubungaku I kusazoshi i
Kyobashi monogatari ^J§§

Kyokutei (Takizawa) Bakin MoriFujiko MMZ
Mori Ogai i £ £ t ^
Kyoto machi bugyo Motoori Norinaga
Maihime $$%& Motoori Ohira T^J
Mainichi shinbun %. 0 Motoori Uchito ^
Makura no soshi Mune no omoi
Manchoho Murasaki Shikibu
Man'yosbu Murasaki Shikibu nikki 0 IE
Masamune Atsuo Murasaki Shikibu shinko
Masamune Hakucho IETH 6 , ^
Masamune Tokusaburo Murasaki Shikibu shu
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Unless otherwise noted, the place of publication of Japanese works is Tokyo.
WORKS BY YOSANO AKIKO
With a couple of exceptions, only those works not collected in Teihon Yosano Akiko
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Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari. 6 vols. Kanao Bun'endo, 1938-39. Reprint, Nihon
bunko, vols. 20-25. Nihonsha, 1948-49.
"Shin-shin'yaku Genji monogatari atogaki." In Shin-shindyaku Genji monogatari, 6:1-
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"Te no ue no kori" Josbi bundan 4.5 (April 1908): 5-8.
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1979-81.
Watakushi no oidachi. 1985. Reprint, Kank5sha, 1990.
Yosano Akiko kashu. 1938. Rev. ed., Iwanami Shoten, 1985.
Yosano Hiroshi Akiko shokanshu: Tenmin bunko zo. Edited by Ueda Ayako and Itsumi
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202
BIBLIOGRAPHY 203
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Index
Abe Tomoji, 156 Classics Training Course. See Koten

Amayo monogatari damikotoba by Kato koshu-ka
Umaki, 27 colloquial style. See genbunHtchi style
Ando Tameakira, 30, 149, 150 Cranston, Edwin A., 5, 7, 8n.l9, 11
Ansei unequal treaties, 62
Arishima Ikuma, 155 Daini no Sanmi, 148, 181, 189, 191-92
Arishima Takeo, 7, 53
Arisugawa, Prince, 59 earthquakes, of 1 September 1923, 137
Asada Sada, 6n.6 Eco, Umber to, 1
Asakasha, 145
Atsumi Ikuko, 9 Fujita Tokutar5, 26, 53n.2, 90, 111,
146-47
Bakin. See Kyokutei Bakin Fujiwara no Kinto, 20
Ban Kokei, 90 Fujiwara no Michinaga, 17n.2, 20,
Beichman, Janine, 9 21n.l2, 146, 148
Bowring, Richard, 24, 97 Fujiwara no Nobutaka, 3-4
Bungakkai, 37 Fujiwara no Yorimichi, 147, 191
Bungei kurabu, 2, 70 Fujiwara Shunzei, 22
Bunka Gakuin, 77, 137, 138, 145, 156 Fujiwara Teika, 21
bushido, 66-67 Fujo no kagami by Kimura Akebono, 43
Fujo shinbun, 151-52
canon, 24, 56, 58-59, 60-61, 70;
Akiko's place in, 84; of kokugaku, 58- genbunHtchi style, 69-70, 93, 97-98;
59; ofNibon koten zenshu, 146; See Akiko's writing in, 110, 176-77;
also classics; koten Genji as genbunHtchi, 86, 179; style of
Child koron, 139; special issue on Akiko, Shin'yaku as, 88, 89, 95, 110, 139,
80-81, 84 157, 175; style of Shin-shin'yaku as,
Chuo Koronsha, 153, 154 174-75, 179
classics, and national identity, 56, 6 1 - gendaigoyaku. See translation
62, 67-69; custodianship of, 22-23, Genji monogatari, and Confucianism,
66, 157; demand for, 24; renewal of 22, 30-31; and prostitutes, 26,
interest in, 56; translations of, see 27n.33, 31-32; as classic, 18, 21-23,
translation. See also canon; koten 32-33, 65, 97-98, 110, 157-58, 179-
214
INDEX 215
80; as cultural scripture, 52, 56, 63, 130, 162-64; "companion of leisure
66-68; as romance, 17-18, 21, 32- hours," 2n.3; dances Waves of the
33, 180; asshosetsu, 44, 68, 136, 157- Blue Ocean, 72n.2; discretion,
58, 179; zsyome-iri dogu, 30; com- 122n.5; education of Akashi Princess,
mentaries on, 21, 22-23; cost of, 24; 139; exile in Suma, 181-82; "faces
digests of, 24-26, 54, 91, 92n.5, 93- turn in fortunes," 190; first sleeps
94; Edo period versions of, 25-27, with Murasaki, 114-15, 130; lectures
53n.2, 91; female readership of, 20- Tamakazura and Ukon, 34n.l; listens
21, 26-32, 54-55; first appearance in to tales read aloud, 20; "main
male diary, 21; importance for poets, character," 187; object of fantasy, 33,
2, 22, 24, 64n.4O; male readership of, 49, 51, 72, 112; on monogatari, 19-
2, 20-21, 45-46, 85-86; Meiji 20; poem to Akashi Nyudo, 48n.46;
versions of, 54—55, 91-95; publication promoted to Jun-Daijo Tenn5, 97,
history of, 22-24, 54, 56; structure 143, 190; relationship with Aoi, 98;
of, 150, 181, 189-92; translations of, relationship with Gosechi dancer,
see translation; "unread/' 24, 65n.42 121-22; relationship with Onnasan-
Genji monogatari, chapters: 'Akashi/ 48, nomiya, 168-69; relationship with
86, 122n.5; <Aoi,' 76, 114-15, 130; Tamakazura, 167-68, 174; remorse
'Asagao/ 165-66] 'Azumaya/ 171- after Murasaki's death, 125-28, 130,
72, 192; 'Fuji no Uraba/ 97n.l7, 143; resentment of Princess Asagao's
143, 147, 148, 149, 166-67, 181, rebuff, 165-66, 174; Rokujo-in, 27;
190; 'Hahakigi,' 27, 44, 86, 98-109, seduction of Oborozukiyo, 115-20,
112, 120-21, 130, 149, 163; 'Hana 130, 141-43, 154, 176; sends poem
no En/ 115-20, 123, 130, 141-43, to Fujitsubo, 143; visits home of Ki
175-76; 'Hanachirusato/ 121n.4; no Kami, 99-109, 112; visits home of
'Hashihime/ 86; 'Hotaru/ 17, 19-20; Minister of Left, 98, 112
'Kager5/ 77; 'Kashiwagi/ 192; 'Kiri- Genji monogatari, other characters:
tsubo/ 76, 92, 148, 149, 187; 'Ko- Akashi, 48; Akashi Nyiido, 48n.46;
cho/ 34n.l; 'Maboroshi/ 125-30, Akashi, Princess, 20, 139, 143-44;
142-43, 176; 'Momiji no Ga/ 72n.2, Aoi, 98, 101, 102; Asagao, Princess,
86, 143; 'Niou/ 190n.7; 'Otome/ 27, 103, 165; Chujo (lady-in-waiting to
44; 'Sakaki/ 130n.ll; 'Suetsumu- Utsusemi), 106-9; Chunagon, (lady-
hana,' 88; 'Suma/ 65, 86, 182n.2; in-waiting to Aoi), 98; Fujitsubo
'Takekawa/ 170-71, 191; 'Tenarai/ empress, 115, 117, 143, 154; Gosechi
44; Uji chapters, 12, 187, 189; 'Usu- dancer, 121, 122n.5; Hanachirusato,
gumo/ 139; 'Utsusemi/ 162-64; 122n.5; Higekuro, 191; lyo no Kami,
'Wakamurasaki/ 44; 'Wakana ge/ 100-102, 105; Kaoru, 49, 72n.l,
144, 168-69, 190, 192; 'Wakana jo/ 170-72, 187, 190; Kashiwagi, 3, 168;
143, 148, 167-68, 181, 190, 192; Ki no Kami, 99-105; Kiritsubo con-
'Yokobue/ 3; 'Yugao/ 86; Tugiri/ sort, 95-97; Kiritsubo emperor, 96-
169-70, 192; 'Yume no Ukihashi/ 148 97, 115; Kogimi, 105-6, 162; Kojiju
Genji monogatari, Genji, the character: (lady-in-waiting to Onnasannomiya),
affair with Fujitsubo, 154; Akiko 168; Kokiden consort, 96; Kumoino-
accuses of inconstancy, 48, 122; as kari, 166, 169; Michinokuni no Kami
young man, 120-21; attempted (Ukifune's stepfather), 191; Minister of
seduction of Utsusemi, 106-9, 112, Left, 98, 101; Minister of Right, 130;
216 INDEX
Miyasudokoro (mother of Second Jippensha Ikku, 42

Princess), 3; Murasaki, 48, 49, 114—15, Jogaku zasshi, 42, 46
125-30, 187, 190, 191; Nakanokimi,
171; Nakatsukasa, (lady-in-waiting to Kaibara Ekiken, 31
Aoi), 98; Niou, 171; Nokiba no Ogi, Kamo no Mabuchi, 23, 28, 35
164; Oborozukiyo, 115-20, 130, 142- "Kamoko," 28, 30, 32
43, 154; Oigimi, 49; Omyobu, 154; Kanao Bun'endo, 53, 89, 153
Onnasannomiya, 168, 169, 190; Kanao Tanejiro, 77, 79, 80, 83, 99, 132,
Rokujo no Miyasudokoro, 165; Sama 135, 152, 153, 189
no Kami, 98; Second Princess Kansai bungaku, 133
(widow of Kashiwagi), 3; Suzaku Kansai Seinen Bungakkai, 133
emperor, 143, 190; Tamakazura, Kanto Daishinsai. See earthquakes
34n.l, 167, 170; To no Chujo, 166; Kanzawa Tami, 29-30, 32
Ukifune, 12-13, 33, 49, 72n.l, 171, Kanzawa Tok5, 29-30
187, 192; Ukon, 34n.l; Utsusemi, Kato Umaki, 27
105-9, 112, 130, 162-64; Yiigao, 33, Kawai Suimei, 36n.6, 38
48, 72n.l, 122; Yugiri, 3, 166, 169- Keichu, 23
70, 174 Keishu Bungakkai, 75-76
Genji monogatari Kogetsusho. See "Keishu shosetsuka no kotae," 42-45
Kogetsusho "Keriko," 28, 30, 32
Gluck, Carol, 56, 61 Kimata Osamu, 13
Gbt5 Shoko, 3,4n.7 Kimura Eiko (Akebono), 43
Kinoshita Mokutaro, 155
Haga Toru, 13 Kitamura Kigin, 17n.l, 22, 31, 64n.4O,
Hagino Yoshiyuki, 60, 134n.7 175
Hagiwara Hiromichi, 22-23 Kitayama Keita, 160
Hayashi Takino, 6n.6, 124n.8 Kobayashi Masaharu (Tenmin), 133-
Higuchi Ichiyo, 40, 41, 42, 61, 81 38, 144n.24, 153
Hinata Kimu, 89 K5da Rohan, 44, 80
Hiratsuka Raicho, 76 Koganei Kimi(ko), 43-44, 46, 155
Horiguchi Daigaku, 155 Kogetsusho, 11-1$, 31, 32, 45, 46, 55,
64n.4O, 136, 148, 175-76
Ibsen, Henrik, 53 Kokoro no hana, 10, 81
Ichijo emperor, 20, 21 kokubungaku (National Literature), 57,
Ichijo Kaneyoshi, 66 144, 145, 147
Ichikawa Chihiro, 9n.22, 12-14, 72n.l, kokubungakusha (scholars of National
122n.6, 13On.l2, 143 Literature), 56, 60-61, 63, 64, 71,
Ihara Saikaku, 26, 35, 58 146, 157; as translators of Genji, 91,
IkedaKikan, 150, 181-82 97-98, 179
IkedaToshio, 21n.l2, 141 kokugaku (National Learning), 46, 56,
InoKoken, 30-31 57,58,59
Institute for the Study of Imperial Kokugakuin, 59
Classics. See Koten kokyusho kokugakusha (scholars of National
Ito Hirobumi, 62 Learning), 27, 45, 54, 57,71
Itsumi Kumi, 2n.4, 7n.l5, 5On.5O, 76 kokumin (citizens), 56, 65
Izumi Shikibu, 10-11 Kokumin no tomo, 34n.2
INDEX 217
kokuminsei (national character), 61, 69 Mizoguchi Hakuyo, 54n.lO, 91, 92n.5

K5myoji Saburo, 45 mono no aware, 66-61, 69
Konakamura Kiyonori, 45, 46, 60 monogatari, 17-21, 31-33, 44
Konakamura Yoshikata, 60, 134n.7 Mori Fujiko, 36, 39, 40, 140, 144n.25,
Kono Tetsunan, 48 152-53, 156
Koshoku ichidai otoko, 26 Mori Ogai, 37,43,53, 145, 175;
koten (classic), 18n.3, 57-58, 158, 179 preface to Shin'yaku Genji
koten (Imperial classic), 59n.23 monogatari, 81-82, 84-86, 151, 187,
Koten kokyilsho, 59-60 189; relationship with Yosanos, 82-83
Koten koshu-ka, 56-60, 81 Motoori Norinaga, 23, 27n.34, 28, 57,
Kuga Katsunan, 61 59, 60n.25, 136, 155, 162n.9
Kujo Tanemichi, 2 Murasaki Shikibu, 55, 63, 148; com-
Kumasaka Atsuko, 49 pared to Chaucer, 67; "genius," 187;
Kumazawa Banzan, 30 "novelist," 192; on monogatari, 19-
Kume Kunitake, 190 20; "poet," 190, 192; "talented
Kunikida Doppo, 61 women writer," 62; widow, 3-4, 113
Kyokutei Bakin, 35, 41, 44, 62 Murasaki Shikibu nikki, 20, 149
Murasaki Shikibu shu, 2, 149
Labrunie, Gerard [pseud, de Nerval], 1 Myojo, 50, 75, 76, 77, 83, 133-34, 140,
Ladies Literary Association. See Keishu 144, 145, 155
Bungakkai
Lewis, C. S., 178-79 Nagai Kafu, 53
Nakajima Hirotari, 118n.3
Maeda Ai, 47 Nakajima Utako, 41
Markus, Andrew L., 23-24, 28, 42n.26 Nakazawa Hiromitsu, 87, 92, 151, 188,
Masamune Atsuo, 144, 154 189
Masamune Hakuch5, 65n.42, 154, 173 National Learning. See kokugaku
Masamune Tokusaburo, 153, 154, 192 National Learning scholars. See
Masatomi Oyo, 6 kokugakusha
Matsukage nikki by Ogimachi Machiko, National Literature. See kokubungaku
27,30 National Literature scholars. See
Matsunaga Teitoku, 2 kokubungakusha
Mesamashigusa, 37 naturalist literature. See shizenshugi
Midaregami, 5-14, 76; Akiko's later re- bungaku
jection of, 6; and classical Japanese Nerval, Gerard de. See Labrunie,
literature, 10-14; biographical read- Gerard
ings of, 6-7, 11, 13; reviews of, 10, Nihon bungaku zensho, 60-61, 134, 145
81, 83; scholarship in Japanese, 8n.l9; Nihon koten zenshu, 14, 144-46,
scholarship in western languages, 152n.47, 154
8n.l9; "revolutionary," 9-10, 11 ninjo (human emotions), 68
Mido kanpaku ki, 21n.l2, 146, 150 Nise murasaki inaka Genji, 26, 61
Mikami Sanji, 68 Nitobelnaz5, 132, 136
Minamoto Tamenori, 18-19 Noguchi Takehiko, 26, 27n.36, 30n.43,
Mitani Kuniaki, 148n.35, 149-50, 175 30n.45
MiyakeKaho,41-42,43,85 Nonoguchi Ryuho, 25
Miyake Setsurei, 62 Numata Gabimaru, 31
218 INDEX
Ochiai Naobumi, 59, 60, 75n.7, 134, Shinma Shin'ichi, 36n.4, 39, 82, 110,
_ 145 145, 176-77
Ogimachi Machiko, 27-28, 30, 32 Shinpen shishi by Masuda Yukinobu, 54,
OkaKazuo, 149, 150 93,97
Okinagusa by Kanzawa Toko, 29-30 Shinseisha, 145
Ono no Komachi, 11 Shinshaku Genji monogatari, 63-69, 71,
Onoe Torako, 54n.8, 93-94, 97 85, 91; editors of, 64; language of,
OzakiK5y5, 61, 177 65, 94-95, 110; preface to, 64-69
Shin-shindyaku Genji monogatari, 87,
People's Rights movement, 59 158; absence of omissions, 130, 154;
Pitt, William, first earl of Chatham, 1 afterword to, 148, 151, 188-92;
PoChu-i, 38 Akiko's view of, 153-54; celebrations
poetry, importance in Meiji period, 81, for, 154-56; compared with other
145 translations, 116n.2, 130, 153,
159n.3, 174; contemporary views of,
reading, Edo period, 22-32 153, 154; edition oi Genji used, 152;
reading, Meiji period, 34, 41-47, 61, illustrations for, 153; language of,
65n.42, 69-70, 110 158-59, 162-75, 178-80; last major
Rodin, Auguste, 72 work, 156; poetry in, 167; publica-
Rubin, Jay, 84n.4O, 84n.42, 154n.54 tion of, 152-53; work on, 4, 151,
Russo-Japanese War, 67, 69, 82 152,189
Ryutei Tanehiko, 26, 35, 61 Shin-shindyaku Genji monogatari, chap-
ters: 'Asagao,' 165-66; 'Azumaya,'
Saganoya Omuro, 44 171-72; 'Fuji no Uraba,' 166;
Sakai, 5, 35, 36, 37, 38-39, 51, 75 'Hashihime,' 151; 'Takekawa,' 171;
Sanboe, 18-19 'Utsusemi,' 163-64; 'Wakana ge,'
Sant5 Kyoden, 32, 44 168-69; 'Wakana jo,' 167-68; 'Yugi-
Sarashina diarist. See Sugawara no ri,' 170
Takasue no musume Shinshisha, 50, 75n.7, 76, 145, 155
Sarashina nikki, 21,32-33, 49, 72n.l, 192 Shinshosetsu, 70
Sasaki Hirotsuna, 43n.33, 81 Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, 52-54, 63,
Sasaki "Masako," 43-45 150; afterword to, 72-73, 80, 95, 99,
Sasaki Nobutsuna, 43n.33,45, 80-81, 147 146, 148, 186-88; Akiko's view of,
Sassa Seisetsu, 52, 64-69, 73, 85, 97, 150, 151n.42, 189; as shosetsu, 92,
148-49; see also Shinshaku Genji 104-5, 110-11, 139, 157; compared
monogatari with Kogetsusho, 175-76; compared
Sato Haruo, 8n.20, 38, 155, 156 with other translations, 91-92,
Sato Kyu, 75 116n.2, 130, 159n.3, 174; cost of, 92;
Satomura Joha, 2 idea for, 77-8; illustrations for, 73,
Seiro him no sekai: Nishiki no ura by 87-88, 92, 151, 188; language of, 88,
Santu Kyuden, 31-32 92,95-111, 115, 157, 174-177;
Seiy5ken Restaurant, 154-55 omissions in, 98-99, 102, 104, 105,
shajitsu (realism), 68, 133, 188 109, 112-13, 120-21; poetry in,
Shiga Shigetaka, 61 118n.3; prefaces to, 53, 81-87; "pro-
Shigarami zoshi, 37, 43 tection of Genji" in, 112-13, 116-21,
Shikitei Sanba, 28 123, 126-31; publication of, 52-53,
Shimoda Utako, 46 78-79; reviews of, 53, 87-89; success
INDEX 219
of, 53, 71, 87, 89; utsurikotoba in, 179; omissions in, 154; other com-
118n.3; work on, 78-80, 135, 186 parisons with Akiko, 159n.3
Shin'yaku Genji monogatari, chapters: tanzaku, 140
<Aoi,' 114-15, 130; 'Fuji no Uraba,' Tawara Machi, 9
78-79, 97; 'Hahakigi,' 98-109, 112, Tekkan. See Yosano Hiroshi
120-21, 130; 'Hana no en,' 115-20, Tenmin. See Kobayashi Masaharu
123, 130, 176; 'Kiritsubo,' 78, 95-97, Teramoto Naohiko, 149, 150
99; 'Maboroshi,' 125-29, 130, 176; The Tale ofGenji. See Genji monogatari
'Otome,' 78, 99; 'Sekiya,' 78; Togawa Shukotsu, 37
'Suetsumuhana,' 88; 'Tamakazura/ Tohaku, 155
78, 79; 'Wakamurasaki,' 89; Tugiri,' Tokutomi Sohd, 34
79 Tokyo Joshi Daigaku, 132, 136
Shin-zen-bi Nihonjin by Miyake Tokyo University, 57, 60n.26, 64, 68,
Setsurei, 61-62 81, 147
Shiota Ryohei, 58, 60 translation, as commentary, 91, 94-95,
shizenshugi bungaku (naturalist litera- 179; as edification, 54, 63, 65, 69, 70,
ture), 176-77 91, 94; as parody, 26, 91; as pornog-
sho (excerpt), 139 raphy, 26; from Chinese, 26, 41; of
"Shomoku jisshu," 34-35, 45-46 Japanese classics, 25-26, 90-91, 132;
shosetsu (novel), 43-44, 69-70, 84, 110- oiKokinshu, 25n.28, 162n.9
11, 134, 158; Eiga monogatari as, 133, translations of Genji, Edo period
188; Genji monogatari as, see under versions, 25-26, 53n.2, 91; first
Genji monogatari modern Japanese, 52, 53n.2; see also
Sh5shi (empress of Ichijd emperor), 20 Shinshaku Genji monogatari', Shin yya-
Shunshosho by Kitamura Kigin, 17 ku Genji monogatari', Meiji period
Sino-Japanese War, 69 versions, 54-55, 91-95; Nihon koten
S5cho, 24-25 bungaku zenshu, 158-59, 162-73,
Sonpibunmyaku, 148 179; need for, 53, 64-65, 69, 85-86;
Subaru, 11 by Suematsu Kencho, 62-63; by
Suematsu Kencho, 62-63 Tanizaki Jun'ichiro, 153, 154, 158-
Sugawara no Takasue no musume, 21, 59, 162-73, 179; by Arthur Waley,
32-33,34, 49, 72n.l, 179, 192 173-74; by Yosano Akiko, see
Suma-gaeri, 3 Shin 'yaku Genji monogatari', Shin-
shindyaku Genji monogatari
Takamura KStaro, 155 Tsubouchi Shoyo, 44, 61, 68, 85
Takasue no musume. See Sugawara no
Takasue no musume Uchida Roan, 77-78, 135
Takatsu Kuwasaburo, 68 Ueda Bin, 53, 71; preface to Shin'yaku,
Takita Choin, 139 86-87, 151, 187, 189; relationship
Tamagami Takuya, 21 with Yosanos, 83-84
Tamenaga Shunsui, 42 Ukiyoburo by Shikitei Sanba, 28
Tanabe Kaho. See Miyake Kaho uretashi, examples in Genji discussed,
Tangled Hair. See Midaregami 162-72; meaning of, 159-61;
Taionki by Matsunaga Teitoku, 2 translation of, 161-62
Tanikawa Shuntaro, 10 utsurikotoba, 118n.3
Tanizaki Jun'ichiro's translation of
Genji, 153, 154, 158-59, 162-73, Vendler, Helen, 11
220 INDEX
Wada Hidematsu, 57, 58, 75 classics, 89, 132-33, 136, 152; trip to
Wakamatsu Shizuko, 43-45 Europe, 79-80, 124, 125; writing for
Waseda bungaku, 135 money, 73-74, 110, 134-35, 140,
Wilson, Graeme, 9 158n.l
Woolf, Virginia, 63 Yosano Akiko and Genji monogatari, 2,
4, 14-16; accuses Genji of incon-
Yabu no uguisu by Tanabe Kaho, 41, 85 stancy, 48, 112 (poem), 122; com-
Yamada Bimyo, 45 mentary on, 14, 73, 132-39, 141,
Yamada Yoshio, 154n.53, 179 147, 157, 174, 179; compares herself
Yamaji Aizan, 61 to women in, 48, 51, 121; digest of,
Yoda Gakkai, 45-46 141-44; distinguishes imperial family
Yosano Akiko, and Eiga monogatari, 35, in, 96-97, 143-44; envies Oigimi, 49;
75, 89, 132-33, 136, 140, 146, 188; first published writing on, 77;
and Ise monogatari, 75; and Kogetsu- identifies Tekkan as Genji, 51, 122—
sho, 136, 176, 187; and Sugawara no 23, 130; identifies with Murasaki,
Takasue no musume, 32-33, 72n.l; 114-15, 121, 129; identifies with
and Tama no ogushi, 136; and Tsure- Murasaki Shikibu, 3-4, 14, 113-14,
zuregusa, 89, 136; argument with 121, 129, 157, 177-78; identifies
Ikeda Kikan, 181-82; biographical with Oborozukiyo, 112 (poem), 130;
criticism, 6-7, 11; childhood reading, influence on poetry, 2-3, 12-14,
16, 32-33, 35-36, 37, 39-40, 46-51, 34n.l, 72n.2; is Gosechi dancer, 121;
55, 74; compared to Murasaki Shiki- is not "the 'Yomogiu' lady," 121; lack
bu, 73, 80, 81, 82, 156; complete of sympathy for Akashi, 48; lack of
works, 8; death, 156; early life, 36, sympathy for Yugao, 48; lectures on,
47-48, 114; early poetry, 2-3, 9, 13- 73, 75-77, 138; defends Murasaki
14, 49-50, 133; editor, 14-15, 73, Shikibu as author of, 17; reading of,
144-46, 157, 174; education, 38-39; 16, 32, 34-35, 40-41, 42, 47-49, 55,
elopement, 5, 51, 121; family, 36-37, 74, 177-78, 180; recording of, 151-
40; her children, 51, 74, 75, 77, 78- 52; reputation as authority on, 76,
79,80,82,83,84, 136, 140, 186; 132, 144, 147, 157; reticence, 15,
illness, 4, 181-82; journalist, 9; 132, 175, 177; scholarship on, 12,
knowledge of classical Japanese, 53, 14-16, 73, 113, 146-50, 156, 157,
74-75, 110, 178-80; learns from 174; "shosetsu," 136, 158, 179, 186;
Heian period women, 14, 74; letter sympathizes with Murasaki, 48;
to Yosano Tekkan, 51, 121-23; life theory of dual authorship, 147-48,
around March 1912, 78-79; meeting 156, 181, 189-92; "transformed into
with Henri de Regnier, 188; meeting high-born lady from," 47; transla-
with Rodin, 72-73, 188; "new tions of, see Shin'yaku Genji monoga-
woman," 4, 12, 16; only regret, 156; tari and Shin-shin yyaku Genji mono-
on poetry, 15; "passionate poet," 4-6, gatari\ views on language of, 173-74,
10-12, 15-16, 114; place in canon, 179; views on structure of, 147-50,
84; popular accounts of, 8-9, 114; 181, 187, 189-92; "whole life's
relationship with Kobayashi Tenmin, work," 135, 153, 182
133-38; relationship with Mori Ogai, Yosano Akiko, and her other works:
82-83, 187; relationship with Ueda Akarumi e (Toward the Light), 123-
Bin, 83-84, 187; "revolutionary," 9; 25, 128-29, 136; Dokuso (Poison
"suffragette," 5; translations of other Grass), 84; "Emaki no tame ni" (For
INDEX 221
a Picture-scroll), 140; Genji monoga- Yosano Hikaru, 79, 84, 144n.25

tari raisan (In Praise of the Tale of Yosano Hiroshi (Tekkan), 5, 6, 7, 49-
Genji), 139-40, 143; Koigoromo 51, 74, 84, 144; and he monogatari,
(Love's Raiment), 17n.l, 82; Koogi 75n.7; as "Genji," 51, 122-23, 129,
(Little Fan), 8n.l8, 82; Maihime 130; death, 4, 151; relationship with
(Dancing Girl), 8n.l8; "Murasaki Kobayashi Tenmin, 133, 135,
Shikibu shinko," 4, 148-50; Ryusei no 144n.24; relationship with Ochiai
michi (Path of a Shooting Star), 140; Naobumi, 145; relationships with
Seigaiha (Waves of the Blue Ocean), other women, 6n. 13
72n.2; Shundeishu (Spring Thaw), 84; Yosano Shigeru, 79, 139
Watakushi no oidachi, 38n.l4, 47n.43; Yosano Tekkan. See Yosano Hiroshi
Yume no hana (Dream Flowers) Yoshiashigusa, 133
8n.l8, 14. See also Midaregami; Shin- YuasaMitsuo, 152, 178
shin'yaku Genji monogatari; Shin'yaku
Genji monogatari zokugoyaku. See translation
Yosano Fujiko. See Mori Fujiko
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
G.G. ROWLEY is a Lecturer in the Japanese Studies Centre, University of

Wales, Cardiff. She is currently translating Masuda Sayo's memoir, Geisha.

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What is the book about?

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Yosano Akiko and The Tale ofGenji

Ann Arbor 2000

Copyright © 2000 The Regents of the University of Michigan

Published by the Center for Japanese Studies, The University of Michigan

Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Rowley, Gillian Gaye, 1960-

This book was set in Janson Text

This publication meets the ANSI/NISO Standards for Permanence of Paper fo

The text of this book is licensed under a Creative Commons

Kenneth and Nancy Rowley

I have been helped by many friends and scholars, in some cases

would also like to thank Professor Ken K. Ito of the University of

The following abbreviations are used for multivolume series:

MBZ Meiji bungaku zenshu. 100 vols. Chikuma Shob5, 1966-89.

References in the text:

References to the collected works of Yosano Akiko are to Teihon Yosano

Unless otherwise noted, the place of publication of Japanese works is

Zrz/y# shigeki mugura gay ado no koto no ne ni

Genji oba hitori to narite nochi ni kaku

Kujo Tanemichi (1507-94), when asked by Satomura Joha (1527-1602)

Tsuyu shigeki yomogi ga naka no mushi no ne o

3. The anecdote is recorded by Matsunaga Teitoku (1571-1653), a disciple of Tanemichi, in

Striking though the resemblances are, however, it seems more likely

Tsuyu shigeki mugura no yado ni inishie no

The "house covered in dew-drenched vines;" the season, autumn; the

Kurokami no chisuji no kami no midaregami

Ito semete moyuru ga mama ni moeshimeyo

Midaregokochi madoigokochi zo shikiri naru

As even this meager sampling suggests, some of the Midaregami

embarrassed by her early poetry. As early as 1915 she admitted that

Harusamu no futahi o kyo no yamagomori

Yawahada no atsuki chishio nifure mo mide

—all of these are questions of but secondary importance. Yet at times

The most recent edition of Akiko's complete works fills twenty

could be Yosano Akiko—why not give burning passion a try?"21 Not

Morality is the foundation of a society; if there is a decline in

Today, nearly a hundred years after Midaregami was first published,

Karada no okufukaku kakusareta sei no himitsu o

Of course there is much that is new in Akiko's poetry. The

Kurokami no midare mo shirazu uchifuseba

Ito semete koishiki toki wa ubatama no

This characterization of Akiko as a totem figure of modernity,

Sono ko hatachi kushi ni nagaruru kurokami no

Ichikawa cites Kimata Osamu's comment: "Although one might as-

If we interpret Akiko's sono ko hatachi broadly and refrain from

It will be apparent from the titles of the publications in which

The Tale of Genji, in the formation of Akiko's poetic voice is acknowl-

39. Shinma, Yosano Akiko, 130.

consisted of scrutinizing her translations, studying her scholarship,

Shunjosho ni he o kasanete kasataranu

Bi o mezuru onna ni shikazu Genji oba

other than a "romance" for women, the realm of Genji as a "classic,"

Monogatari seem always to have been regarded as reading for

Tosa Minister (Tosa no otodo), The Fashionable Captain (Imameki no

By the latter half of the tenth century, the monogatari was