He’s No Genji
Genji’s good friend and friendly rival for the affections and attention of a mass of women is Tō no Chūjō. When both perform a dance number for the benefit of the His Majesty, the imagery clearly situates the real status between the two. It’s not like Tō no Chūjō is not hot stuff himself, but like the saying goes, first is first and second is nobody:
“Genji, a Captain in the Palace Guard, performed a dance called “Waves of the Blue Sea.” His partner was Tō no Chūjō, who, as son of the Minister of the Left, was unquestionably superior to other men in terms of his looks and training. Performing next to Genji, however, he seemed like some nondescript tree deep in the mountains growing beside a cherry in full bloom.”
Murasaki
If Genji can be said to have one true love of his life, it would probably have to be Murasaki. Like everything else associated with his love life, however, things are complicated. For one thing, he first falls for her when she is just a young girl and he is old to know better. But age is a funny thing: it’s always growing in number and eventually the gap between two numbers doesn’t seem quite as troublesome as it once did:
“If a woman has a calculating heart and a troublesome disposition that makes an issue of everything, then a man has to take care that he not allow her emotions to lead her astray and keep her from fulfilling his desires. She will tend to be jealous and resentful, and difficulties he never imagined, such as a separation, will naturally arise. Murasaki, however, was an absolutely captivating companion for Genji. A real daughter, when she had reached this age, would not have been able to behave so intimately, to have gone to sleep or risen in such close proximity to him. Genji came to feel that his young Murasaki was a rare hidden treasure, his precious plaything.”
Rape
Genji gets married early, but a life of monogamy is not in the cards. For that matter, neither is a promiscuous life dependent upon consensual activity. The imagery of seduction in the story is only deserving of the term seduction for the purpose of being absurd. Genji and other men routinely add to their sexual conquest count by using force or coercion.
Moon
Lunar imagery is pervasive throughout the narrative. Sometimes it is referenced comprehensively as the heavenly body and sometimes it is more precisely located within the illumination of moonlight. This recurrence of moon imagery is explained directly at one point: “
"There has never been an evening when viewing the moon has failed to arouse deep emotions in me,” Genji ventured, “but the clarity of the moon’s light tonight truly moves me to contemplate worlds other than this one."
Although another occasion seems to actually be closer to the unspoken truth:
“Genji sent the page girls out into the garden to roll snowballs. The adorable figures and haircuts of the youngest girls glistened in the moonlight.”
