Chapter 13 - Akashi

Chapter 13 of The Tale of Genji — Akashi (明石) — depicts Genji's coastal exile and his encounter with the Akashi Lady, whose daughter will become the mother of the future emperor. Maeda Masao's illustration for this pivotal chapter likely emphasizes the coastal setting — the fisherman's world on the Akashi coast, the autumn moon over the Inland Sea — through which the novel establishes the provincial world that produces the woman who will connect Genji's lineage to the imperial succession. The sea, the moon, and the humble setting of exile create the chapter's distinctive emotional atmosphere.