Aoi no Ue


Aoi no Ue is a fictional character in The Tale of Genji. Daughter of the Minister of the Left and Genji’s first principal wife, she marries Genji when she is sixteen and he only twelve. Proud and distant from her husband, Aoi is constantly aware of the age difference between them and very much hurt by Genji's philandering. For a short while, after giving birth to Genji's son, Yūgiri, and suffering episodes of spirit possession, does Aoi actually appear appealing in Genji's eyes. The episode of spirit possession itself is extremely controversial and brings forward two female characters of the tale: Aoi and Lady Rokujō. The relationship between the two women may be that between victim and aggressor, if one follows the traditional interpretation of spirit possession, or that between accomplices expressing their discontent with the Heian system of polygynous marriage. Aoi dies at the end of the "Aoi" chapter and her exit from the tale is thus definitive.
Aoi no Ue is also the title of a Noh play about her, translated as Lady of the Court, or in the modern version by Yukio Mishima, The Lady Aoi.

In popular culture

Pioneering electronic music composers Joji Yuasa and Toshiro Mayuzumi both composed a piece entitled Aoi no Ue.
Aoi Ue also appears as a character in the Salman Rushdie 1995 novel, The Moor's Last Sigh.