Bonfire (kagaribi) — 篝火

This print illustrates Chapter 27 of The Tale of Genji, titled 'Kagaribi' (Cresset Fires), in which bonfires are lit at night during an autumn concert at the Rokujō estate. Ebina's composition likely centers on the warm, flickering light of the cresset fires casting pools of orange and amber against nocturnal darkness — a contrast well suited to the expressive range of the woodblock medium. The chapter is notable for its charged atmosphere surrounding Tamakazura and her suitors. Graduated [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) in deep blues and blacks would have been essential to rendering the night sky and the dramatic play of firelight across figures in court dress. This print and its companion (kagaribi) are likely separate treatments of the same chapter subject, differing in compositional emphasis or coloring.