Lady Rokujo

Lady Rokujo (Rokujo no Miyasudokoro) is a character from Murasaki Shikibu's eleventh-century Tale of Genji, known for her jealousy-driven transformation into a vengeful spirit. She appears as the principal figure in the Noh play Aoi no Ue and in several other Noh works, and her image has been treated by ukiyo-e and shin-hanga artists across multiple generations, often in a bijin-ga or yakusha-e (actor-print) register depending on whether she is shown as a court lady or as the masked Noh figure. A print bearing this title would typically depict either the seated noblewoman in Heian costume — multilayered junihitoe robes, long flowing hair — or the demonic Hannya-mask manifestation associated with her possession scenes. The mokuhanga technique used for such figural subjects relies on careful keyblock outlines for the face and a sequence of color blocks for textile patterning. Within Shusui's otherwise nature-focused observed output, a literary-figure subject indicates breadth of subject matter and engagement with classical Japanese narrative material.