The Third Princess and Kashiwagi, from Chapter 34, “New Herbs I (Wakana I)” (Nihon shinnō onna sannomiya)

A triptych from 1890 depicting the Third Princess and Kashiwagi from Chapter 34 ("New Herbs I") of the Tale of Genji — one of Chikanobu's engagements with the eleventh-century masterpiece of Japanese literature. The scene of the Third Princess and Kashiwagi was among the most psychologically complex in the entire novel: the disastrous attraction between the empress-consort and the young nobleman, observed through a break in a fence, leading to an affair with tragic consequences. Chikanobu's rendering updates the Heian scenario while honoring its literary gravity.