Robe with Characters from the Tale of Genji in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, March 2019

振袖 Robe (Furisode) with Maple Tree, Bamboo Fence, and Characters from “Little Purple Gromwell” (Wakamurasaki)
late 17th century


Object Details

Period: Edo period (1615–1868)

Date: late 17th century

Culture: Japan

Medium: White silk satin with silk-thread embroidery and gold-thread couching

Dimensions: 61 1/4 × 24 in. (155.5 × 61 cm)

Classification: Textiles-Costumes

Credit Line: Lent by Tokyo National Museum


This long-sleeved robe (furisode) of white satin, a material usually reserved for Noh costumes, is quite rare. A maple tree embroidered in vivid colors spreads across the upper half of the robe, and a bamboo fence in green with gold accents decorates the lower half. Two strikingly large characters that read wakamurasaki 若紫 refer to the name of the heroine and the title of Chapter 5, usually symbolized by blossoming cherry trees. The maple tree depicted here, however, may connote the autumn season, when Genji brings young Murasaki to his residence, and the maple and the bamboo are both auspicious symbols of longevity. A design nearly identical to this one appears in a woodblock-printed textile pattern book (hinagata-bon) dating to 1697.

Text from: www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/739130