This chapter follows directly on the previous one, beginning in the 10th month when Genji is 28 and extending to the 11th month of the following year. The Japanese title "Miotsukushi" means "channel marker," and refers to a pole set in an estuary bottom to mark the channel. However, in poetry the term also is a pivot word meaning "mi wo tsukushite mo", "even at the cost of my life"or "giving my all" - and this is used in exchange of poems between Genji and the Lady Akashi.
[The Pilgrimage to Sumiyoshi by Tosa Mitsunobu (Harvard Museum)]
Genji returns to the capital and is promoted to the position of Dainagon (Palace Minister) from the former official position of Grand Counselor. He visits the palace and is reunited with his brother Suzaku, the reigning emperor (who is 30 years of age) after not having seen each other for three years. They have a close talk. After that, Genji also sees his son Yugiri (now 7 years old), who is in the service of the Heir Apparent.
The following spring, the coming-of-age ceremony of the Heir Apparent is held (he is by now 10 years old), and Emperor Suzaku uses this as an occasion to retire. He is succeeded by the Heir Apparent (who is the illicit son of Genji and his stepmother Fujitsubo) as Emperor Reizei. Genji's friend, To no Chujo's daughter comes to the palace as a handmaiden of Emperor Reizei - she will become the Kokiden Consort. To no Chujo has become Acting Counselor.
The Akashi Lady gives safely birth to a daughter (who in a later chapter will become the Akashi Empress). As she is still living in Akashi (married women often remained in their parent's home), Genji sends a nanny and a congratulatory gift to her. Genji is happy to have a daughter - in this period daughters were more important than sons among the aristocracy, for they could be married off to the young emperors, leading to power and dignity for their fathers. Murasaki, who has no children, is secretly jealous.
In the fall, Genji makes a grand visit to Sumiyoshi to give thanks for being restored at court. By coincidence, the Akashi Lady arrives the same day at the shrine (as we saw in the previous chapter, her family were dedicated followers of the Sumiyoshi god and due to her pregnancy and ensuing pollution she had not been able to visit the shrine for a long time). She is intimidated by Genji's grand retinue and his glittering appearance, and so is once again painfully reminded of the difference in status with Genji. She cuts short her visit without giving him any notice of her presence. But Genji hears about the situation via his servant Koremitsu, and feeling sorry for her, sends her a poem - the waka exchange in which the "miotsukushi" or "channel markers" are mentioned:
is it because we love each other
with all our hearts
that I have met you here
by the channel markers
sign of our deep karmic ties
mi wo tsukushi | ko furu shirushi ni | koko made mo | meguriaikeru | eni ha fukashina
The channel markers of the Horie channel were famous at that time, and "miotsukushi" are also mentioned in One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each No 20 (see my post about this poem). "Water capital" Osaka had many channel markers. Here you see one on a ukiyo-e by Yoshiyuki from about 1800:
And here is one on an old photograph:
This, finally, is the mark of the modern city of Osaka:
Due to the change in reigns a new Ise virgin is appointed (Ise virgins were appointed for the duration of one reign, but those reigns never lasted very long in this period of child emperors who were forced to abdicate as soon as they came of age) and Rokujo returns to the capital with her daughter after an absence of six years. Soon after that, she falls ill and takes holy orders. When Genji comes to visit her, she entrusts her daughter Akikonomu, who is now about 20, to him, entreating him at the same time not to take sexual advantage of the young woman. Soon after that, she passes away. Akikonomu becomes the adopted daughter of Genji. Despite the fact that the retired Emperor Suzaku had long had an eye on Akikonomu and wanted to take her in his service, after a discussion with Fujitsubo, Genji decides to send her into the service of their son Reizei instead.
[Sumiyoshi Shrine]
Genji-e
Scenes of Genji at the shrine and the Akashi Lady's boat in the background are frequently depicted, as in the picture at the top of this page.
No plays
Sumiyoshi-mode was probably written in the late Muromachi period and is a play with a large number of characters and the use of a carriage and covered boat - this all to celebrate the glory of the Sumiyoshi shrine and the bittersweet meeting between Genji and the Akashi Lady. The Akashi Lady is cast as the shite and Genji as either the tsure or a kokata (child actor). In contrast to the novel, in the No play Genji and the Akashi Lady do meet briefly, knowing that another separation is imminent. The play contains a large number of poems and many quotations from the Genji.
Visiting
The Sumiyoshi Shrine
(Sumiyoshi Taisha) in Osaka is one of the surprising unknowns among
foreign tourists, who flock to the ferro-concrete castle and neglect
this beautiful shrine with its "national treasure" class structures. The
only excuse is that it stands a bit out of the center, in a southern
corner of the city. Originally, the shrine stood right at the coast, but due to land
reclaiming projects in recent times, the sea is now a few kilometers
removed and can not be seen anymore because of intervening apartment blocks.
The
earliest historical reference to the shrine dates from 686, when
emperor Tenmu visited to make an offering. It is possible the shrine
dates back a few centuries earlier, when contacts with Korea grew and
ships bound for the continent set out from the port of Suminoe (a name
that can also be read as Sumiyoshi) in what is now Osaka. At the shrine prayers for safe
sea travel were offered.
Sumiyoshi over time became the most important shrine
in the Osaka area and also received support from the court. As we have seen, it has an
important place in the Tale of Genji, because it assisted at the
rehabilitation of the Shining Prince. Its powerful supporters donated
many treasures to the shrine, but the real treasure are the buildings
themselves. The Main Hall (last rebuilding: 1810) - in fact a series of
four halls - has been declared a National Treasure. Three of the halls
are dedicated to the three Sumiyoshi deities, who appeared when the
Creator God Izanagi washed the impurities from the Underworld away; the
fourth is given to the mythical empress Jingu, who supposedly led a campaign
against Korea. At that time the Sumiyoshi deities guided her ships to
the continent and gave her the necessary protection.
The three
Sumiyoshi-deity shrines stand in a neat row, one behind the other as a
convoy of ships, while the building for the deified Empress stands to
the side of the first shrine structure - as if it was added as an
afterthought. All the four sanctuaries have the same building plan.
Inside are two rooms, the second closed off as it houses the deity. The
red pillars and white plank walls provide a nice contrast, also with the
many trees in the shrine grounds.
Sumiyoshi Taisha is a 3-min. walk from Sumiyoshi Taisha
Station on the Nankai Main Line, or from Sumiyoshi Torii-mae Station on
the Hankai Line. March-May and September: 6:00-17:00; June-August:
6:00-18:00; October-February: 6:30-17:00. Grounds free. The shrine has several popular festivals, among them the Rice-Planting
Festival (Otaue Matsuri) on June 14 and the Sumiyoshi Matsuri, the
shrine's summer festival, from July 30 to August 1.
Reading The Tale of Genji