Journey Through Space:
The Gendering of the Imperial Court

Genji Cloud - bottom

Welcome!
Scroll through to explore how consorts and courtiers claimed agency over the space of the Heian court as seen through prints from The Tale of Genji.
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by Elli Stogiannou & Ino Tsichrintzi

Bamboo River Roof Diagram

Interiority vs Exteriority:
The Blown-off Roof Technique

Artists have exposed the ritually-kept hidden interior by removing the palace’s roof, invading in this way the consorts’ privacy. The interior is detached from its associations with safety and ownership, and even the restricted space assigned to the consorts becomes contested.

Chapter 44 - Bamboo River(Takekawa), 18th century

Album; ink, color, gold, and lacquer on paper

10 3/8 x 9 inches

Johnsons Museum of Art, Cornell University

Wakana - Masao Ebina Wakana - interior Bound outline Wakana - middle Bound outline Wakana - exterior Bound outline

Interiority vs Exteriority:
Seeing vs Being Seen

The visual contrast between interiority vs. exteriority exposes another dichotomy (opposing pair) of seeing versus being seen. The portrayed male courtier gazes down the passive female in what resembles suspiciously our own viewing of the scene.

Ebina Masao (1913-1980)

Chapter 34 - Young Fresh Greens (Wakana)

Woodblock print; Ink on paper

8 1/4 x 12 1/8 inches

Staging:

Movable Parts

Small Objects


Kunisada - ch.38 Kunisada - Falling Flowers Kunisada - ch.38 - overlay descriptive label 1 descriptive label 2

Conscious of the influence of staging their space, women reclaimed control by changing the arrangement of movable architectural units.

Utagawa Kunisada (aka Toyokuni III), Japanese, (1786-1864)

Rustic Genji, Ch. 38: Suzumushi, 1851

Ink and colors on paper

9 3/8 x 13 7/8 inches

Smaller objects were also employed to assert spatial authority,
especially when they belonged to everyday customs.

Utagawa Kunisada (aka Toyokuni III), Japanese, (1786-1864)

Rustic Genji: Chapter 11, Hanachirusato, 1854

Ink and colors on paper

10 1/8 x 7 1/8 inches

Tosa School Rokujo

Rokujo Residence

The Rokujo residence is Genji's most pronounced effort to regulate the life of his consorts by regulating their movement in space. The four consorts are each assigned to a separate corner of the residence complex, in an attempt to block any interaction between them. The women, nonetheless, undercut his authority in secretly exchanging correspondence.

rokujo residence map

Tosa School, Japanese

Otome, Chapter 21, mid 18th c.

ink, colors, gold and silver on paper

8 x 7 inches

Background effect Lady Rokujo

Weeding Defiant Woment

Ultimately, the dire consequences faced by the consorts who repeatedly challenge patriarchal hierarchy unfold in terms of spatial expulsion (suspension). A case in point is Murasaki's tragic story; when Murasaki upsets Genji's marital ambitions (agenda), she becomes possessed by Lady Rokujō's malign spirit. We see here Lady Rokujō violently removing Murasaki from her quarter, because Murasaki defied social order and could not remain part of the court, neither in its kinship system nor its physical component. Then, similarly to Murasaki's body, the physical architecture of the court deteriorates when Murasaki becomes expelled.

Yamato Waki (Japanese, born 1948)

The wandering spirit of Lady Rokujō, Genji's neglected lover, attacking his first wife, Lady Aoi, from the manga series The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Dawn (Genji monogatari: Asaki yumemishi)

Matted painting; ink and color on paper

14 5/8 x 21 5/8 inches