Reading The Tale of Genji (28): The Typhoon (Nowaki)

Nowaki

Title

Washburn translates the title as "An Autumn Tempest," the other translators all have "The Typhoon."

Chronology

This chapter takes place in the autumn (the eight month) when Genji is 36, immediately after the previous chapter.

Position in the Genji

Genji's 15-year old son Yugiri is the protagonist of this chapter, which is halfway in the novel. His coming of age is represented by several kaimami scenes, where he catches glimpses of Murasaki and Tamakazura. The act of "Kaimami" was linked with desire, but Yugiri is more serious and filial than Genji was in his youth and he doesn't act out his voyeuristic adventures. One could say (as Melissa McCormick does) that these scenes represent Yugiri's emotional maturation, together with a growing awareness of the oddity of his father's relations with women.

[Nowaki, by Tosa Mitsunobu, Harvard Art Museums]

Synopsis

Autumn is the typhoon season in japan and one day in August, the capital is hit by a powerful typhoon. It does considerable damage to the buildings and gardens of the Rokujo-in estate. Indeed, the once paradisaical grounds, especially the great gardens, are in ruins. Because Genji is away, his son Yugiri inquires what damage  Murasaki, his father's principal wife, has suffered from the storm. He accidentally catches a glimpse of his step mother for the first time of his life through an open door panel, blown away by the storm, while the normally closed curtains have also been pulled away (he himself remains hidden from view). Yugiri is stunned by her beauty, especially among the chaos caused by the storm.

The day after the typhoon, Genji and Yugiri visit Empress Akikonomu, who is in the middle of a short leave which she spends at the Rokujo-in. They also visit Genji's other noble ladies. When they visit Tamakazura, Yugiri watches her in a more deliberate act of kaimami and is fascinated by her beauty. At the same time, however, he is disgusted by Genji's unfatherly behavior toward her - as he thinks Tamakazura is really Genji's daughter, he thinks his father's behavior is incestuous.

Yugiri, inspired by the glimpses he has caught of all these beautiful women, is reminded of his own love and sends a letter to Kumoi no Kari.

Genji-e

Scenes chosen for illustration include: as in the above, Yugiri catching a glimpse of Murasaki - he is shown having a direct frontal view of her face, while her ladies-in-waiting struggle with the curtains blown away by the wind; Yugiri, acting as his father's deputy, visiting Empress Akikonomu when her little serving-maids are laying out insect cages in the damp grass of her garden; and Yugiri secretly witnessing a rather compromising scene between his father and Tamakazura.

Reading The Tale of Genji