Historical Culture Library 596 Genji monogatari no butai sōchi (The Stage Setting of The Tale of Genji - Heian Period Literature and the Rear Palace)

This book covers the rear palace buildings in the Heian period, specifically the structures within the inner palace where the emperor, crown prince, their consorts, and imperial children resided. These palace buildings comprised five structures called sha and seven called den, with the den being larger and of higher rank than the sha. The sha were sometimes referred to by alternative names ending in -tsubo, such as Fujitsubo or Kiritsubo, inspired by plants growing in their respective courtyards.
 
These names appear in Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji as titles for consorts (such as “Kokiden no Nyōgo” or “Kiritsubo no Kōi”) and as settings for pivotal events in the story (like “rating women on a rainy night” in the “Hahakigi” chapter or the encounter between Hikaru Genji and Oborozukiyo in the “Hana no En” chapter).
 
This book examines how the rear palace buildings are depicted in Heian-period tales, focusing primarily on The Tale of Genji. While the primary goal is to interpret the palace spaces in these stories, I consistently made it a point to first clarify the actual state of the rear palace buildings and compare their reality with the narrative descriptions, using this as a foundation for analysis. By doing so, we can clearly distinguish historical fact from fiction. This allows us to discover the historical events that served as material for the tales and to explore the author's intentions behind the fictional settings. Ultimately, we believe this approach will lead to an understanding of how masterpieces like The Tale of Genji were created.
 
The chapter “The Rear Palace in the Heian Period” provides basic information on the names, sizes, and hierarchical rankings of rear palace buildings, while also touching on the evolution of the emperor’s and empress's residences.
 
The chapter “Buildings Called Den” focuses on four major palaces of the highest rank: Kokiden, Jōneiden, Jōkyōden, and Reikeiden. It shows that the Kokiden and Jōneiden, historically spaces used by empresses and empress dowagers, became the residences of villainous empress dowagers in tales. Furthermore, the Jōkyōden, a building of the next highest rank after the Kokiden, appears in stories as the residence of minor, unremarkable consorts.
 
The chapter “Buildings Called Sha (Tsubo)” primarily examines three sha: Shigeisha, Higyōsha , and Gyōkasha. It examines how the Shigeisha (Kiritsubo) functions as the base for three generations of the Hikaru Genji clan in The Tale of Genji, how the Higyōsha (Fujitsubo) becomes the residence of heroines from stories, and how the Gyōkasha (Umetsubo) is used for emperors’ consorts in politically weaker positions.
 

(Written by KURIMOTO Kayoko, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Humanities and Sociology / 2025)