157. The reference is to the accession of the Reizei emperor after Genji’s return from exile.
158. There is possibly a suggestion that their manner was more familiar than their station should have allowed.
159. Anonymous, Kokinshū, no. 935: “My gloomy thoughts run on and on, unbroken as the morning mist on the peaks the wild geese pass.”
160. Ajari (Skr. acarya). In general, any monk of sufficient learning to act as a preceptor; and in the Shingon and Tendai sects a specific clerical rank.
161. The abbot here uses an unusual verb form that apparently gives his speech a somewhat stilted or archaic flavor.
162. The poem contains a common pun on Uji, which suggests gloom. There also is a reference to a poem by Kisen, Kokinshū, no. 983: “In a hut to the south and east of the capital I dwell; the place is known as the Hill of the World of Gloom.”
163. The Reizei emperor seems to think that the Eighth Prince’s poem refers to the rivalry over the succession.
164. Sōzu, Sōjō.
165. There was no fixed time for this. The meaning is that winter is coming, and if he does not hurry he will have missed the autumn observances. Autumn (see the next sentence) was the fishing season.
166. Sosei, Kokinshū, no. 241: “Purple trousers—left behind by whom?—give sweetly forth the scent of an unknown master.”
167. Or ōshiki. The tonic is A.
168. This is a much debated passage. We have been told that the older sister is a master of the lute; the younger, of the koto. But the description of the girl with the plectrum seems to fit the younger girl better.
169. This is obviously an allusion, but it has not been traced.
170. There are three sound holes on the face of a biwa lute, two known as half moons, the other as the full or “hidden” moon.
171. The old woman, Bennokimi, is a first cousin of Kojijū and of the Eighth Prince’s deceased wife.
172. Kashiwagi was a guards captain, and his brother is Kōbai.
173. Hiuo (literally, “ice fish”). The young of the ayu (sweet fish).
174. Her father was the uncle of the Eighth Prince’s wife.
175. Kengei, Kokinshū, no. 875: “The form is a rotted stump, in mountains deep; you can, if you try, make the heart come back to life.”
176. The sin of not having properly honored his real father.
177. It bears the character for “up” or “over” (ue). There are several theories as to what it might mean, of which this seems the most credible.
178. Probably an allusion.
179. The antecedent could be either Kaoru or Niou.
180. Saibara is a type of popular song.
181. Oshikōchi no Mitsune, Kokinshū, no. 41: “The darkness of the spring nights may hide their colors, but can the scent of the plum blossoms be hidden too?”
182. Anonymous, Kokinshū, no. 689: “Cloak spread for lonely sleep, does she await me, the lady at the Uji Bridge tonight?”
183. Ki no Tsurayuki, Gosenshū, no. 472: “Black was my hair, and now it is white and whiter, like snows that wait for their comrades to return.”
184. Tachibana no Kojima.
185. Man’yōshū, no. 2425, from the Hitomaro Collection: “A horse I might have had, to cross Kohata. But love would not let me wait. I have come on foot.”
186. Unclear. Perhaps she inks out his poem or, immediately after having written it, her own.
187. Shibira is an overgarment of some kind. He is treating her like an underling to see how she might perform in the service of his sister.
188. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Shūishū, no. 895: “How tight the cocoon one’s parents weave about one. Its prisoner, I may not see my love.”
189. Meoni has been taken by some commentators to mean not “she-devil” but the homophonous “eye-devil.” According to medieval commentaries, an eyeless and noseless monster lived on Mount Hiei, to which the brave torchbearer has come.
190. There is mention in the preceding chapter of a heavy rain on the day after Ukifune’s disappearance.
191. The commentators are agreed that the bishop’s sister is in the second carriage.
192. It is not that the possession caused Ukifune’s unhappiness but that the unhappiness gave the possessing spirit its opportunity.
193. Against killing, stealing, wantonness, deceit, and drunkenness.
194. In The Tales of Ise, sec. 63, the hero is pursued by a lady “but one year short of a hundred.”
195. Kaguyahime, in the tenth-century Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, returns to the moon at the end of the story.
196. Hita are clappers of wood and bamboo manipulated from a distance by a string.
197. In the ninth episode of The Tales of Ise, the exiled hero is reminded of home by the miyakodori (bird of the capital), the black-headed gull.
198. Anonymous, Shūishū, no. 506: “Would I might have a place apart from the world, there to hide what time has done to me.”
199. Probably it is she, though no subject is given.
200. A reference, apparently, to a story or proverb, not identified.
201. The mink was believed to shade its eyes while scanning a stranger from afar.
202. A reference to the poem that Niou sent to Ukifune during the romantic excursion to the Islet of Oranges in the “A Boat upon the Waters” chapter.
203. Zasu, the chief abbot of Mount Hiei.
204. One of Yūgiri’s sons and thus a first cousin of the princess.
205. Henjō, Gosenshū, no. 1241, upon taking holy orders: “I cannot think that she would have wished it thus, My aged mother, stroking my raven hair.”
206. Although the text from which the bishop is reciting has been lost, the reference would seem to be to the cycle of birth and rebirth.
207. Yomi, Land of the Dead.
208. Bhaisajyaguru, the buddha of medicine. The eighth of the month was one of his feast days.
209. Kazusa, which occupied most of the Chiba Peninsula directly east of present-day Tokyo.
210. It was the custom in the Heian period to start journeys on astrologically auspicious days or from auspicious directions, which usually necessitated removal to a nearby temporary lodging from which the actual trip could begin. The author is playing with the place-name Imatachi, literally, “Departing Now.”
211. This province covered most of the area now occupied by the city of Tokyo.
212. The gromwell (murasaki) is a wild perennial, whose roots yield a lavender color (murasaki) dye. The author refers to Kokinshū, no. 867: “Due to this single lavender root of the gromwell, all the wild grasses across Musashi Moor arouse a sigh as I gaze.”
213. This appears to be a folk song from his home region. It speaks of ladles for scooping saké that are made of dried and split bottle gourds, with the narrow part of the gourd forming a straight handle. They are light and float on the surface of the vats. Their moving to and fro freely in response to the wind arouses a happy feeling.
214. The bridge across the narrow eastern neck of Lake Biwa, part of the main road to the east country.
215. Reference to the personal poetry collection of Ariwara no Narihira (825–880).
216. The poem is also in The Tales of Ise, sec. 9, and the Kokinshū (no. 411). The poem’s head-note records that it was written when Narihira was crossing the Sumida River and was told that the bird he saw was called the “Capital Bird.” The poem reads: “Oh Capital Bird, if you bear the truth that goes with such a name, come hither, I would ask you, how fares the one I love?”
217. The play on the names containing Japanese and Chinese is amusing because the intertwining of Chinese and Japanese cultural elements was so much a part of Heian literary culture.
218. The singers improvise a song about being compared with the entertainers of Naniwa, present-day Osaka, therefore the west country.
219. Stalks of the aoi plant are used as decorations for the Kamo Festival in Kyoto and therefore connote the splendor and liveliness of the capital at f
estival time. The name aoi is also understood as a pun for “meeting day” and evokes romantic affairs. To find three stalks of the plant in the isolated mountains strikes the party as incongruous and touching.
220. This is the first mention of the author’s mother, who had not accompanied the father to the provinces but had maintained their residence in the capital. Her mother is the much younger sister, by a different mother, of Mother of Michitsuna, the author of the Kagerō Diary.
221. The Third Avenue Palace was the residence of Princess Shūshi (997–1050), daughter of the late ill-fated Empress Teishi, who had been Sei Shōnagon’s patron.
222. From this passage, we understand why the author’s stepmother was so familiar with the tales being circulated at court. The difficult situation of the stepmother is also explained between the lines. The author’s father had taken the presumably younger woman down to the provinces with him and had had a child with her, but back in the capital the stepmother must have found it difficult to live in the shadow of the first wife. At any rate, the relationship between the author and her stepmother seems to have been atypically warm. Cruel stepmothers were stock characters in Heian fiction.
223. It is the year 1021, so the author is thirteen.
224. This poem alludes to a poem by Taira no Kanemori, Shūishū, no. 15: “The young branch tips of the plum tree in my garden must have come out in bloom; unexpectedly you seem to have deigned to visit.” The stepmother may be referring to the author’s birth mother or perhaps a future lover.
225. Fujiwara no Yukinari (972–1027), a famous calligrapher.
226. Yukinari’s daughter had been married at the age of twelve to the youngest son of Fujiwara no Michinaga, Fujiwara no Nagaie. He was seventeen at the time of their marriage. She died only three years later, at the age of fifteen.
227. Mibu no Tadami, Shūishū, no. 104: “As night deepens, if I could not stay awake, the cuckoo’s voice would be something I would only hear about from others.”
228. Anonymous, Shūishū, no. 1324. Toribeyama is a place for cremation. The poem seems to foretell her own death.
229. Genji’s mother was the Kiritsubo (Paulownia Court) consort. The paulownia tree has lavender flowers. Genji’s stepmother, with whom he had a secret affair, was called the Fujitsubo (Wisteria Court) consort. The wisteria is also a lavender-color flower. Genji falls in love with young Murasaki because of her resemblance to Fujitsubo. The murasaki (gromwell) has roots that yield a lavender dye. The connection among these three characters is called the lavender affinity. The author is likely referring to the “Lavender” (Wakamurasaki) chapter of The Tale of Genji.
230. Uzumasa is in the western part of the city. The temple there is Kōryūji.
231. The comment is critical evidence that the full length of The Tale of Genji at this time was “fifty-odd” chapters. Textual scholars of Genji wish that the author had been more specific about the number.
232. The Tales of Ise.
233. None of these other tales survives.
234. It is known that women would often read tales aloud to one another, but this comment is evidence that they also read silently by themselves.
235. This poem involves puns on yo wo aki (weary of the world) and aki hatsuru (autumn ending). She playfully uses the Buddhist terminology “that wearies us of the world” to gently chide their guests for failing to praise their autumn scenery.
236. Princess Teishi (1013–1094), a granddaughter of Michinaga and not to be confused with the late Empress Teishi mentioned earlier.
237. Hexagonal Hall refers to the Chōhōji, a temple in central Kyoto that houses one of the “Seven Kannon of the Capital.”
238. The tutelary god of the imperial family. The author’s perception of the identity of Amaterasu seems to have been quite vague. It is not at all certain that she conceived of this being as a “goddess.” The mention of Amaterasu in connection with a temple dedicated to Kannon may indicate the widespread belief at the time that Amaterasu was an avatar of Kannon.
239. That is, the servant quarters.
240. Famous poem by the Tang poet Bo Juyi about the ill-fated love between Emperor Xuanzong and his concubine Yang Guifei.
241. Presumably, this is a vernacular Japanese translation of the poem with illustrations.
242. Tanabata, the festival of the stars when the Weaver Maid and Herdsman stars (Altair and Vega) are allowed to meet by crossing the bridge provided by the wings of magpies.
243. The year is 1023.
244. The year is 1024, when the author is about seventeen years old.
245. The remark about “nowadays” indicates the retrospective nature of this entry.
246. Her imagined scene combines two characters in The Tale of Genji who are unconnected in the tale itself. Genji is the hero of the first forty-one chapters of the work; Ukifune makes her first physical appearance in chapter 49. It is Kaoru who hides Ukifune at Uji.
247. The year is 1032, when the author is twenty-five years old. Her father is sixty years old and has been expecting to get a provincial governorship in one of the provinces close to the capital, but instead he is appointed to Hitachi, the province next to his former post in Kazusa.
248. The father’s rambling, repetitious speech shows the anxiousness of his mind.
249. Parting in autumn, although sad, is celebrated in poetry. If her father had received the post he hoped for, he would have been able to appreciate the poetic feelings of parting in autumn. In his current situation, there is no such pleasure.
250. A fault in poetry composition in which the third line (thought of as the backbone of a poem) does not connect well with the fourth line.
251. A mirror would normally have only one polished side. This is a dream, however, so considerations of realism are not at issue.
252. Amaterasu, literally “Illuminating Heaven,” is the Sun Goddess, titular deity of the imperial family. The author claims ignorance of whether Amaterasu is a god or Buddha. Certainly, she appears to have no consciousness of this deity as being gendered female.
253. This remark actually betrays a confusion between a pre-Nara-period official title, Creator of Ki, and the worship of the Sun Goddess in the province of Ki.
254. This information is correct.
255. Takasue returned to the capital in 1036 at the age of sixty-four. The author is twenty-nine.
256. This seems to be a veiled reference to her own situation. Her father’s leaving the world of political activity means that he will not be able to do anything positive about her prospects in the world, whether it be marriage or a career at court.
257. To serve at court means to take a position as lady-in-waiting in the entourages of any of the members of the imperial family.
258. She becomes a lady-in-waiting to Princess Yūshi (1038–1105), who is a child younger than two years old at the time. Princess Yūshi was the daughter of the reigning emperor GoSuzaku and the late Princess Genshi. Genshi was adopted by Fujiwara no Yorimichi after her mother, Empress Teishi, died. Thus Princess Yūshi was being raised in the Takakura Palace of her adoptive grandfather Yorimichi, who was the regent at the time. Service in that household had the potential of putting the author in touch with members of the inner circle of Heian aristocracy. It appears that she starts as a part-time lady-in-waiting for a trial period.
259. The children of her elder sister. It now has been fifteen years since her sister died.
260. The measurement mentioned is ichijōrokushaku, which is approximately thirty feet. From the size and description of its placement, the monk is likely referring to the central image of the Amida Buddha in the Kiyomizu Main Hall.
261. An intercalary Twelfth Month of 1039.
262. The “Calling the Buddha’s Names” was an annual event at the imperial palace that involved reciting the names of all three thousand buddhas in order to expiate the sins of the past year. After the event at the imperial palace, the same event was repeated in the home palaces of the imperial consorts
. The ceremony that the author attends is presumably at the Takakura Palace.
263. An allusion to Kokinshū, no. 756: “Joining me in feeling at a time when I brood on things, the moon dwelling in these sleeves of mine also has a face damp with tears.”
264. This is a veiled reference to her marriage to Tachibana no Toshimichi (1002–1058). From her following comments, it does not appear that it was a match to her taste at first.
265. “Plucking field parsley” was a proverbial expression for putting all one’s heart into a project and having it come to nothing.
266. A reference to her youthful dream to be kept in a rural setting by someone as handsome as Genji.
267. A request to present the author’s niece.
268. An occurrence in 1042.
269. A reference to a son she had with Toshimichi. Later in the diary, she mentions children in the plural, and it is known that she had another son and one daughter with Toshimichi, but the diary gives no precise information about the births. From other sources, it is also known that Toshimichi was governor of Shimotsuke Province starting in 1041 and would have returned to the capital around the time of this entry.
270. The year is 1045, when the author is thirty-eight years old.
271. The Osaka Barrier is in the mountains between the capital and Lake Biwa. The author passed the barrier when she was thirteen years old on her way to the capital from the east.
272. The Great Festival of Thanksgiving is the grander version of the annual Festival of First Fruits. The Great Festival was held on years when a new emperor was officially enthroned. Emperor GoReizei (1025–1068) had assumed the throne the previous year. It was the custom to hold the official enthronement rites the year after the succession. The Great Purification preceding the festival had the new emperor perform a ritual ablution on the banks of the Kamo River. The pomp and pageantry made it a popular event for sightseeing.
273. This is the first direct mention of the author’s husband in the diary, and it casts a surprisingly positive light on their relationship given her initially negative reaction to the marriage.
Traditional Japanese Literature Page 41