Chapter 8 Summary

The Festival of the Cherry Blossoms arrives and the courtiers around the palace entertain the emperor, empress, and crown prince with poems and dances. Genji, of course, outshines everyone there, but To no Chujo also does very well and impresses the assembled host.

After the festival, Genji returns to his room, but gets lonely. He decides he needs a woman to share his bed with, so he searches around the palace for a companion. Finding most of the doors locked, he finally comes across an open door and takes the woman he finds there back to his chambers. Once there, he and the woman, who is actually Oborozukiyo, Kokiden's sister, make love until the pre-dawn hours, when the woman has to rush back to her own room. However, Genji does not learn who she is until later.

The next morning, Genji wonders who...