Classic Japanese love stories Characters
This series brings together some of the best-known lovers and uncanny beings in Japanese classical literature. They include the "Man of Old," traditionally identified with the poet Ariwara no Narihira; Hikaru Genji and Lady Rokujō; the poet Izumi Shikibu; Manago and Isora from Ugetsu Monogatari; and Kiyohime of Dōjōji. Drawing on the original texts and widely accepted scholarship, this guide explains who each character is and what happens to them in each story.
All characters22
The Man of Old (Mukashi Otoko) The Man (Otoko)
Romantic hero of The Tales of Ise
The Man of Old (Mukashi Otoko) is the hero of The Tales of Ise, a Heian-period collection of short tales built around poems. Many episodes open with the line "Long ago,…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 1, Episode 8The Woman of Akutagawa / The Lady of the West Wing The Nijō Empress (Fujiwara no Takaiko)
The high-born lady the Man of Old loved
The Nijō Empress (Nijō no Kisaki) was Fujiwara no Takaiko. She later became a consort of Emperor Seiwa and the mother of Emperor Yōzei. Scholars believe The Tales of…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 1, Episode 8Hikaru Genji (The Shining Prince) Hikaru Genji
The radiant hero of The Tale of Genji
Hikaru Genji is the hero of The Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu. He is a beautiful and gifted nobleman, born a son of the Kiritsubo Emperor and later made a…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 2, Episode 6Lady Rokujō Rokujō no Miyasudokoro
The proud lover who became a living ghost
Lady Rokujō (Rokujō no Miyasudokoro) is Hikaru Genji's older lover in The Tale of Genji and the widow of a former crown prince. She is a highly cultured, proud woman,…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 2, Episode 6Lady Aoi Aoi no Ue
Genji's wife, tormented by a spirit
Lady Aoi (Aoi no Ue) is Hikaru Genji's first principal wife in The Tale of Genji, the daughter of the Minister of the Left and Princess Ōmiya. She is proud and reserved…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 6Izumi Shikibu
Brilliant Heian poet who lived for love
Izumi Shikibu was a woman poet of the mid-Heian period, known for her passionate love poems. She served Empress Shōshi (Akiko) and lived at the same time as Murasaki…
Appears in 2 episodes: Episode 3, Episode 11Prince Atsumichi Sochi no Miya (Prince Atsumichi)
The prince who began a romance with a blossom
Prince Atsumichi, called Sochi no Miya in the text, was a son of Emperor Reizei and is Izumi Shikibu's lover in The Izumi Shikibu Diary. He was the younger brother of…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 3The Late Prince (Memory) Prince Tametaka
Izumi Shikibu's lost lover
Prince Tametaka was a son of Emperor Reizei and a lover of Izumi Shikibu. He was the elder brother of Prince Atsumichi and died young.
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 3Ōyake no Toyoo
The young man loved by a serpent woman
Ōyake no Toyoo is the hero of "The Lust of the White Serpent" (Jasei no In), a story in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari. He is the third son of Ōyake no Takesuke, the…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 4Manago
White serpent who loved Toyoo
Manago is a woman of unearthly beauty in "The Lust of the White Serpent" from Ugetsu Monogatari. She is really a huge serpent of great age. She falls desperately in…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 4Katsushirō
The husband kept away for seven years
Katsushirō is the hero of "The House Amid the Thickets" (Asaji ga Yado), a story in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari. He lives in the village of Mama in Katsushika…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 7Miyagi
The wife who waited, trusting a promise
Miyagi is Katsushirō's wife in "The House Amid the Thickets" from Ugetsu Monogatari. She is a beautiful woman with a fine and faithful heart.
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 7Shōtarō Isawa Shōtarō
The faithless son who betrayed his wife
Shōtarō (Isawa Shōtarō) is the hero of "The Cauldron of Kibitsu" (Kibitsu no Kama), a story in Ueda Akinari's Ugetsu Monogatari. He is the only son of the Isawa family,…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 9Isora
Betrayed wife turned vengeful ghost
Isora is Shōtarō's wife in "The Cauldron of Kibitsu" from Ugetsu Monogatari, the daughter of Kasada no Miki, chief priest of Kibitsu Shrine. Betrayed by her husband,…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 9The Young Monk / The Serpent in the Dream The Young Monk
The monk who broke his promise and fled
Anchin is the young monk in "Anchin and Kiyohime," a legend handed down at Dōjōji temple in Wakayama Prefecture. In early sources such as Konjaku Monogatari he has no…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 10The Widow / The Great Serpent The Woman
A woman turned serpent by a lover's betrayal
Kiyohime is the woman in the Dōjōji legend of "Anchin and Kiyohime" who turns into a giant serpent out of rage at being betrayed. In early sources such as Konjaku…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 10The Darkness in the Storehouse (The Oni) The Oni
The demon that swallowed a woman whole
The oni of Akutagawa is the being that is said to devour a woman in one gulp inside a ruined storehouse in section 6 of The Tales of Ise, "Akutagawa." The original text…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 1The Wife Who Waited The Woman
The wife who waited three years
The Wife Who Waited is the woman in section 24 of The Tales of Ise, "Azusayumi" (The Catalpa Bow), who waits three years for her husband after he leaves to serve at…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 5The Returning Husband The Man
The husband who came home after three years
The Returning Husband is the man in section 24 of The Tales of Ise, "Azusayumi" (The Catalpa Bow), who lived with his wife in a remote country village. He left for the…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 5The Voice of the Kibune Deity The God of Kifune (Kifune no Myōjin)
The god who answered Izumi Shikibu's poem
The Kibune Deity (Kibune Myōjin) is the god worshipped at the Kibune shrine (today's Kifune Shrine) in the hills north of Kyoto. He is revered as a god of water and is…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 11The Shrine Princess (Lady Rokujō's Daughter) The Ise Priestess (Saigū; later Empress Akikonomu)
Lady Rokujō's daughter, sent to Ise
The Shrine Princess is Lady Rokujō's daughter in The Tale of Genji. The Saigū (Ise Priestess) was an unmarried woman of the imperial family chosen to serve at Ise Grand…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 2Tekona of Mama (Figure of Legend) Tekona of Mama (Mama no Tekona)
Legendary maiden of Mama
Tekona of Mama (Mama no Tekona) is a beautiful maiden from an old legend of Mama in Shimōsa Province, today's Ichikawa City in Chiba Prefecture. The legend says many…
Appears in 1 episode: Episode 7