Wakuran no kumoinokari

Kumoi-no-Kari is a character in The Tale of Genji, the daughter of Tō no Chūjō who, after a long courtship marked by parental opposition, marries Hikaru Genji's son Yūgiri. The phrasing wakuran no likely glosses as 'the troubled' or 'the disordered,' pointing to an episode of romantic or domestic disquiet within her storyline — Yūgiri's later entanglement with the Princess Ochiba being a probable referent. The print belongs to the apparent Genji-themed cluster in Shusui's output. Genji-themed mokuhanga of the twentieth century commonly observed Heian iconographic conventions: women depicted seated within blinds and curtains, dressed in layered jūnihitoe robes rendered through stacked color blocks, with calligraphic inscription panels often integrated into the design. [Bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) was used to suggest the soft interior light of aristocratic chambers and the muted color hierarchies of Heian dress. Without further archival information on Shusui's series or publisher, the print is best read as part of the broader twentieth-century revival of literary themes in woodblock form.