A Study on Kashiwagi's Bloodline Ambition in Genji Monogatari

In Genji Monogatari, Kashiwagi is nominated as the marriage partner of the princess Onnasannomiya, who is favored by Suzakuin, but fails to achieve his dream. Afterwards, Kashiwagi commits a secret affair due to his obsession with Onnasannomiya, which is discovered and leads to his death. It is believed that Kashiwagi's repeated secret affairs and his death following Hikaru Genji’s secret affairs are not unrelated to his latent bloodline ambition to marry the princess. This paper examines the basis of Kashiwagi's bloodline ambition through a textual analysis of the Kashiwagi Monogatari and confirms that such an ambition reflects the realistic aspects of the Heian period nobles regarding marriage to the princess.