The Tale of Genji

This woodblock print depicts four richly-clad women at a river. It was produced by the Japanese woodblock artist Toyohara Kunichika (1835-1900), carved by Hori-ei and published by Kiya Sojiro in Tokyo, Japan, in February 1868.The scene is probably a Genji-e, or illustration of the Genji story. A popular subject for many Japanese print artists in the nineteenth century, 'The Tale of Genji', the classical Japanese novel by Lady Murasaki Shikibu of the late Heian period (794-1185 AD), detailed the lengthy, often complex love adventures of the novel's central character, Prince Genji. The story spawned many parodies, illustrations of which were also prevalent and often termed mitate-e.The print is probably the right-hand panel of an original triptych; a work of art comprised of three distinct panels. In this image, a beautiful young woman holds a sword aloft while three girls play under a cherry blossom on the far bank of a river. The women are likely to be Genji's attendants, making it likely that Genji himself would have been depicted in the central panel of the triptych. Additional scenes from the tale would have featured in the left panel of the work.