"Matsukaze", "wind in the pines", is the name of one of two legendary sisters who lived in Suma, where they ladled brine in order to make salt. According to legend, the poet Ariwara no Yukihira (see my post of Hyakunin Isshu 16 for this poet), dallied with both sisters during his 3-year exile to Suma (their story also formed the basis of a famous No play - see my blog article about Matsukaze by Zeami). It is obviously the link with "Suma" and "exile" which caused the association of the Lady of Akashi with "Matsukaze." The motif continues after her move to Oi (Arashiyama) - concretely, the chapter title is based on a poem by the Lady Akashi's mother containing that phrase: "When I came back to my old home after taking the veil, a familiar-sounding wind was blowing in the pines."
This chapter takes place in the same year as the previous one ("The Picture Contest"), in autumn. Genji is 31 years of age, the Lady from Akashi 22.
The east lodge (Higashi-no-In) of the Nijo mansion has been completed, and Genji has Hanachirusato move into the west wing. He intends to have Lady Akashi live in the east wing, and maintains a constant correspondence with her. The Akashi Lady, however, hesitates to move to the Higashi-no-In: she is well aware of her humble position and fears to become the object of ridicule in case Genji would neglect her night after night. But desiring to maintain contact with Genji, she takes a compromise position and moves to Oi (present day Arashiyama, at the Oi River), just west of the capital where her mother's grandfather had once built a mountain villa. The hermitage is dilapidated and overgrown, but the caretaker is summoned and told to have it refurbished. When Genji hears the Akashi Lady will move to this hermitage, he is impressed by her thoughtful discretion. He sends Koremichi to check whether everything is fit for the residence of Genji's family.
The Akashi Lady, her mother (who has taken the veil) and her little daughter now have to take leave of the Akashi Novice, who will remain behind in Akashi - the rather eccentric old man doesn't want to join the obscure company of former governors in the capital. He anyway has had little daily contact with his wife and daughter (in Akashi, he lived near them, but was something of a recluse), but the farewell is still difficult - he will probably never see his wife and daughter again. On a chill autumn day, when the insects are crying, the two women and the child leave Akashi and head to Oi - first traveling by sea to avoid attracting attention.
The Akashi Lady is satisfied with the refurbished house in Oi - the view reminds her strangely enough of the view over the sea in Akashi, for the river Oi is wide and shallow, and the house is surrounded by pines like the one in Akashi. She starts living there with her mother and small daughter. By chance Genji has started building a temple in Sagano, in the same neighborhood, so he will still be able to visit her without letting Murasaki know about it. Genji will commute to her distant residence in a duolocal manner, as he did earlier with his wife Aoi.
But the Akashi Lady waits in vain for Genji to come and visit - it takes a long time before Genji finally makes his way to Oi. The Lady Akashi has in the meantime tried to battle her ennui by playing on an old koto.
Out of consideration for Murasaki's feelings (whom he has not told about the Lady Akashi), Genji finds it hard to visit the Akashi Lady in Oi, but he finally sets out, on the pretext that he has to check how the temple building in Sagano is proceeding. He and Lady Akashi are delighted to see each other for the first time in three years, and he admires the prettiness of his daughter whom he now meets for the first time (!). Genji is struck by the little one's beauty and grace.
Genji spends the night with the Lady Akashi, talking about the past. The next day he calls his attendants and has them put the garden next to house right. He also visits his temple where he has various services performed. During a last visit to the Akashi Lady and his daughter a thought comes in his mind which he doesn't yet speak out: to provide the best upbringing possible, he will have to bring his little daughter to Nijo, his house in the capital. The Lady Akashi is prostrate with sorrow when Genji leaves. When (after another visit to his Katsura Villa, where he has a party) Genji returns home, he finally tells Murasaki about the Lady Akashi. She agrees to take care of his young daughter, in case he would indeed bring her to Nijo.
The child is what binds Genji to the Akashi Lady, but it is also a tie that will bring the child's mother much anguish. For Genji realizes that his daughter must be brought to the capital if she is to receive the training and education necessary to become a high imperial consort. The forced separation between mother and daughter will come about in the next chapter, "Wisps of Cloud."
Class consciousness, rank and hierarchy are important concepts in Heian society and therefore also in the Genji Monogatari. This becomes clear by the difference in Genji's handling of Lady Akashi and Lady Murasaki, two of his youthful mistresses. He is unable to take either of these women as his official wife, as their rank is not sufficient. Lady Murasaki, however, being the illegitimate daughter of an imperial prince, has a very different status from Lady Akashi, whose father is only a lowly provincial governor. Genji's love and respect for Murasaki are greater than his love for the Lady Akashi. This is most vividly made clear when he decides to remove the little girl he has by the Lady Akashi from her and have the child adopted by Murasaki. From the author's point of view this was perfectly justified, since Lady Murasaki, being on a higher rung of the hierarchy, was in a better position to provide a good upbringing. There is no indication that Murasaki Shikibu ever questioned this hierarchy (The World of the Shining Prince, pp. 68-69). .
Genji-e: Scenes chosen for illustration include: Genji, on his way back to the Katsura villa; parting from his baby daughter and the Akashi Lady; and an open-air banquet at Katsura, where Genji is offered small game-birds tied to autumn reeds (the above one).
Reading The Tale of Genji