The melancholy of Ukifune

Ukifune appears in the closing Uji chapters of The Tale of Genji as the daughter of an obscure prince, romantically pursued by both Kaoru and Niou; caught between the two, she attempts to drown herself in the Uji River and is later found and taken into religious orders. The melancholy indicated in the title points to one of these passages of psychological extremity, most plausibly the moments before her attempted suicide or her later seclusion. Mokuhanga depicting Ukifune characteristically isolate the figure within an enclosed setting — a curtained interior, a moonlit veranda, a glimpse of river — and rely on tonal restraint rather than narrative detail to register the emotional charge. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradations are commonly used to suggest atmospheric weight, and figural pose tends toward inward-facing or downcast attitudes. Together with the prints of Yugao, Naka no Kimi, and Kumoi-no-Kari, this work suggests Shusui produced an extended Genji set, a project consistent with twentieth-century mokuhanga revival of classical literary subjects.