The characters of The Tale of Genji do not possess birth names. Instead they are assigned sobriquets derived from poetic exchanges (e.g. Murasaki takes her name from a poem by Genji), from the particular court positions they occupy (in the Tyler translation, characters are often referred to by such terms as His Highness of War, Her Majesty the Empress, His Grace, the Palace Minister and so on), from their geographical location (e.g. Lady Akashi who lived on the Akashi coast before meeting Genji), or from the name of their residence (e.g. Lady Rokujō, whose mansion is on the Sixth Avenue, rokujō, or Fujitsubo, literally wisteria pavilion, the part of the Imperial Palace where this particular lady resided). In two out of the three complete translations into English, Seidensticker’s tends to systematically employ the same names (e.g. Genji, Murasaki, Akashi, Utsusemi, etc.), whereas Tyler’s, a more textually accurate translation, tends to change sometimes characters’ appellation with every chapter.
Similarly, many women writers of the Heian period left behind their sobriquets alone. Murasaki Shikibu is no exception: "Murasaki" means "purple" and is likely derived from her character of the same name or her clan background, which used the wisteria as its flower, while “Shikibu” refers to a court position in the Bureau of Ceremonies (shikibu) that her father used to occupy.
Notes Following Genji, all the other characters are introduced following the chronology of the events in the tale. However, this chronology does not take into account the first time a character is mentioned, but rather the time a character actually makes his or her debut into the tale. Some of the character descriptions below include a reference to the chapter in which the character is introduced to the narrative. Important characters are in capital letters.
Characters Part I Prince Genji (Hikaru Genji/ the Shining Genji/ the Shining Prince) – The eponymous hero of the tale, he is the son of an emperor (usually referred to as Kiritsubo Emperor) and of a low-ranking imperial concubine (known to readers as Lady Kiritsubo or Kiritsubo Kōi). Many scholars have tried to decipher the real or fictional model behind the character of Genji. Some of the favorite candidates are Ariwara no Narihira (the hero of The Tales of Ise), Emperor Murakami, Sugawara no Michizane, Minamoto no Tōru or Fujiwara no Korechika.Ivan Morris, The World of the Shining Prince, 1994, 285. Independently of Murasaki Shikibu's sources of inspiration, Hikaru Genji cannot be simply reduced to being a mere fictional reflection of a real historical figure. In the tale, Genji occupies center stage from chapters one to forty-one and the narrative focuses on his amorous exploits and political successes. Although demoted to commoner status (and forced to take the name of Minamoto), Genji rises in rank to the position of Honorary Retired Emperor and lives to see his children becoming Emperor, Empress and Minister, respectively. In the realm of amorous relationships, the narrative follows Genji from his adventurous youth, a time in which he engages in multiple relationships with women of various ranks, to his mature years, when his political and erotic success is best reflected in his Rokujō-in mansion, a residence built to shelter the most important women in his life and to mirror the Imperial Palace (or at least its hidden quarters reserved to the emperor's female staff). The peak of Genji's glory, however, also announces his slow but inexorable decline, and chapters such as “Nowaki” and “Wakana” reveal his vulnerability in front of a new generation of young heroes, Yūgiri and Kashiwagi. The disintegration of Genji's world becomes final with the death of his beloved Murasaki, in chapter forty, “Minori,” and he dies shortly afterward. Lady Kiritsubo (the Kiritsubo Intimate/ Kiritsubo Kōi/ Kiritsubo Consort) – Genji's mother and the favorite of Emperor Kiritsubo, Lady Kiritsubo is disadvantaged at court because she lacks parental support. Her father, a Grand Counselor, is already dead at the beginning of the narrative, and her mother cannot provide her with political support. Thus, the lady provokes the jealousy of other imperial concubines, in particular that of the Kokiden Consort, a lady with well-founded hopes of becoming Empress. As a result, Kiritsubo is constantly harassed by the other women and the humiliations she has to suffer at court eventually trigger her premature death, only three years after having given birth to Genji. Her name is derived from the Paulownia Pavilion, where she resided while at the Imperial Court, the farthest location from the emperor's chambers and symbolic of the lady's low status (at least when compared to other imperial concubines). (chapter 1). The character of Kiritsubo is loosely based on the historical Yang Guifei. Emperor Kiritsubo (Kiritsubo no Mikado) – Genji's father, who despite the large social gap between him and the Kiritsubo Lady, maintains an unwavering devotion to her, tragically exposing her to the jealousy of his other consorts. Aware of Genji's fate were he to attract the hostility of the Kokiden Lady, and also worried about the predictions made by a Korean soothsayer concerning Genji's potential future (as an emperor, Genji would bring about unrest; as a minister, he would also face foreboding uncertainty), the Emperor demotes Genji from imperial prince to commoner. Thus, at least in theory, Genji is forbidden to ascend to the throne. Instead, Kiritsubo Emperor names Suzaku, Genji's half-brother and the son of the ambitious Kokiden Lady as Heir Apparent (or Crown Prince). Furthermore, the emperor also arranges Genji's marriage to Aoi, the daughter of the Minister of the Left and, by this, ensures that his son will benefit from the powerful political support of his father-in-law, the only one able to balance the influence of Kokiden and her party. Sometime after the death of his beloved Kiritsubo, the emperor learns of the existence of an imperial princess, referred to as Fujitsubo (again, after the name of her residence, the Wisteria Pavilion), who uncannily resembles his lost love. Of an incomparable higher status than her unfortunate predecessor, Fujitsubo goes on to become the emperor's favorite and ultimately Empress, but her resemblance to Genji's mother also attracts Genji's initially childish interest in her. This childish interest, once turned erotic, fuels much of the later narrative plot.(chapter 1; dies chapter 10) Suzaku (later, Emperor Suzaku/ Suzaku (Tale of Genji)) – The son of Kiritsubo Emperor by the Kokiden Lady, Genji's half-brother and grandson of the powerful Minister of the Right, he is named Heir Apparent, although the Kiritsubo Emperor would have personally preferred to make Genji a Crown Prince. Apparently a pathetic figure throughout the narrative (he is cuckolded by Genji, sees the women he would like to have taken away from him, becomes a puppet in the hands of his mother and her political faction), Suzaku still retains a tragic dignity, especially during the “Wakana” chapters, when, after having abdicated and taken Buddhist vows, his religious devotion is obstructed by his excessive paternal love for his favorite daughter, the Third Princess (Onna San No Miya/ Nyōsan). Moreover, at least one Genji critic distinguishes Suzaku's vengeful potential, by identifying him with the possessing spirit affecting the women of the Uji chapters.Tyler, Royall and Susan. “The Possession of Ukifune.” Asiatica Venetiana, 5 (2002): 177–209.(chapter 1; like Genji's death, Suzaku's death is not featured in the narrative) Lady Kokiden (Kokiden Consort) – Kiritsubo Emperor's consort of higher rank (nyōgo) than Lady Kiritsubo (kōi), she is the daughter of the powerful Minister of the Right. Bitterly jealous of the emperor's love for Kiritsubo, once her rival is dead, her animosity comes to affect her rival's son, Genji. Thus, due to political scheming, she finally has her son, Suzaku, appointed Heir Apparent. Nevertheless, once Fujitsubo debuts into the narrative, Kokiden is confronted with a much more powerful rival, one that is more high-ranking than Kiritsubo and thus can claim the title of Empress, leaving Kokiden to content herself with being “only” the Empress Mother. Time and again, Kokiden figures in the narrative as Genji's archrival, plotting and scheming to eliminate him from court and finally succeeding in stripping him of his rank and sending him into exile at Suma. Genji's return from exile marks the beginning of his political ascension and also his victory over the Kokiden Lady.(chapter 1–14) Lady Fujitsubo (Her Highness/ Majesty Fujitsubo) – Daughter of a previous emperor and thus imperial princess, Fujitsubo enters the service of Emperor Kiritsubo at the age of sixteen, mainly because of her resemblance to the deceased Lady Kiritsubo. She soon becomes an imperial favorite, but also Genji's childhood crush and later lifelong obsession. By chapter seven, “Momiji no ha,” it becomes obvious that Fujitsubo and Genji are already involved in an illicit love affair (although the author does not describe, but rather implies the beginning of the relationship), the result of which is the birth of Reizei (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 (“Sakaki”). 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”Norma Field, The Splendor of Longing in The Tale of Genji, 1987. figure in the tale. Only on her deathbed (in “Usugumo”) does she return to being a romantic heroine. Nevertheless, 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, later, Genji will look for substitutes for her, in women such as Utsusemi, the Third Princess, but most of all, in Murasaki). (chapter 1; chapter 10 becomes a nun; chapter 19 dies) Ōmyōbu(Fujitsubo's Ōmyōbu) – She is a lady-in-waiting in Fujitsubo's service and Genji's accomplice. Her major narrative role is to facilitate Genji's access to Fujitsubo, an event which will have as its result the birth of the future emperor Reizei. In addition, she acts as a go-between in their epistolary exchanges. In the end of her appearances, she is a nun who has taken vows with Fujitsubo. (chapters 5–12) Minister of the Left (Sadaijin) – Genji's father-in-law, father to Aoi and Tō no Chūjō, his role is to maintain perfect political balance at the Emperor Kiritsubo's court by countering the influence exerted by the Minister of the Right. He is entrusted with Genji's fate and becomes his protector during Genji's younger years. With the death of the Kiritsubo Emperor however, the Minister falls out of favor and eventually retires from public activities altogether. His main wife is Princess Ōmiya, the mother of Aoi and Tō no Chūjō.(chapter 1-chapter 19)