is a fictional character in

Murasaki Shikibu was a Japanese novelist, Japanese poetry#Age of Nyobo or court ladies, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial Court in Kyoto, Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of ''The Tale of Genji'', widely considered t ...

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The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

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Biography

Daughter of a previous emperor and thus imperial princess, Fujitsubo enters the service of Kiritsubo Emperor at age 16, mainly because of her resemblance to the deceased Kiritsubo Consort. She soon becomes an imperial favorite, but also Genji's childhood crush and later lifelong obsession. By chapter seven, it becomes obvious that Fujitsubo and Genji are already involved in an illicit love affair (although the author does not describe it, but rather implies the beginning of the relationship), the result of which is the birth of Reizei (the future emperor) whom everyone, except the two lovers, believes to be the son of the Kiritsubo Emperor. Elevated to the rank of Empress and having her son named Heir Apparent (Reizei is supposed to succeed Suzaku), Fujitsubo gradually grows more and more troubled by guilt and the fear of having her secret exposed. Once Genji's advances intensify and, in the public realm, the faction of the Kokiden Lady comes to power, Fujitsubo's only countermeasure is to take vows and become a nun (). By this, she hopes on the one hand to permanently put Genji off and eliminate the risk of their affair being discovered and, on the other hand, to reassure Kokiden that she renounces any secular, political claims to power. After Genji's return from exile, she forms a political alliance with him and turns into a genuine "politically ambitious" figure in the tale. Only on her deathbed (in ) does she return to being a romantic heroine.

Reception and analysis

Fujitsubo's importance in the tale lies beyond her immediate contribution to the plot, in what Norma Field termed as being an "original substitute": she makes her debut as a substitute for Kiritsubo, yet Genji will later look for substitutes for Fujitsubo in women such as Utsusemi, the Third Princess, and especially

Murasaki no Ue Murasaki no Ue (紫の上), also spelled ''Murasaki-no-Ue'', is the main heroine of ''The Tale of Genji''. She is also known as "Lady Murasaki" in some translations. She first appears in the fifth chapter, when she is a young girl. Prince Genji fi ...

. The adulterous affair between Fujitsubo and Genji is paralleled in , written by , in which the protagonist Sagoromo secretly violates a princess who gives birth to a son. In order to save the princess's reputation, the empress presents the child to the emperor as the empress's own. Later, when the emperor tries to abdicate in favour of this prince, an oracle identifies the prince's real father as Sagoromo and requires the emperor to cede him the throne instead. The author of disapproved of the manner in which Genji ultimately becomes honorary retired emperor through his illicit tryst with Fujitsubo, and found the similar plot device in "utterly revolting and appalling." Several later readers of ''The Tale of Genji'' also found Genji and Fujitsubo's affair problematic.

Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was a Japanese author who is considered to be one of the most prominent figures in modern Japanese literature. The tone and subject matter of his work range from shocking depictions of sexuality and destructive erotic obsessions to subtle portr ...

's first translation of ''Genji'', produced in the 1930s with the supervision of the ultranationalist Yoshio Yamada, cut out the affair between Genji and Fujitsubo entirely so as to avoid offending Imperial Japan's

State Shinto was Empire of Japan, Imperial Japan's ideological use of the Japanese folk religion and traditions of Shinto. The state exercised control of shrine finances and training regimes for Kannushi, priests to strongly encourage Shinto practices that ...

ideology of an unbroken divine imperial lineage. This material was restored in Tanizaki's later translations published after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fujitsubo, Lady The Tale of Genji Female characters in literature Fictional characters from Kyoto