Mistletoe

"Mistletoe" (Yadorigi) is Chapter 49 of The Tale of Genji, in which Kaoru discovers the hidden existence of Ukifune — a young woman who is a half-sister of the deceased Oigimi he has long mourned — and becomes obsessed with her as a replacement for his lost love. The mistletoe of the title is a parasitic plant that lives on another tree — a metaphor for Ukifune's social situation (dependent on others, without her own roots) and for Kaoru's love (which feeds on the memory of another woman). Ebina's print explores this chapter's complex emotional botany.