Hikaru Genji

Protagonist in "The Tale of Genji"
the musical group

Hikaru Genji (光源氏) is the protagonist of Murasaki Shikibu's important Heian era Japanese novel The Tale of Genji. The story describes him as a superbly handsome man and a genius. Genji is the second son of a Japanese emperor, but he is relegated to civilian life for political reasons and lives as an imperial officer. The first part of the story concentrates on his romantic life, and in the second, his and others' internal agony is depicted. He appears from the first volume "Kiritsubo" to the 40th volume "Illusion". "Genji" is the surname of a noble demoted from royalty. His true given name is never referred to in the story, like most other characters. "Hikaru" means "shining", which is a nickname deriving from his appearance. He is also referred to as Rokujō no In (六条院), sometimes abbreviated as In (院). He is often called Genji when speaking of the story. It is implied that Hikaru Genji was extremely attractive and talented, easily gaining the favor of those around him at a young age. Describing his superlative qualities, Murasaki Shikibu wrote: "but to recount all his virtues would, I fear, give rise to a suspicion that I distort the truth." His appearance was said to have tempted men and women alike, as he had desirable features such as smooth white skin, excellent fashion sense, which increased his fame and popularity. The character of Hikaru Genji has had several adaptations in other media, from different iterations of The Tale of Genji. He is usually universally depicted as possessing unrivaled beauty and charisma in all subsequent media adaptations. While fictitious, Genji is thought to be inspired by real historical figures, including Minamoto no Tōru, who was a grandson of Emperor Saga, hence one of the Saga Genji clan.

The ages of characters are counted in East asian age reckoning (kazoedoshi), as the story discusses. It is common to divide the tale into three parts, and this article follows that custom, but the division is not made explicit in the original version of the story written by Lady Murasaki.

At the age of forty, he married his niece Onna san no Miya, who was a daughter of his elder half brother Emperor Suzaku (朱雀帝), and her mother was a lady whose half sister was Empress Fujitsubo, hence another niece. This marriage did not make him happy. Kashiwagi (柏木), a friend of his son , hence a nephew of Lady Aoi, lusted after Onna san no Miya and sought her love even after her marriage with Genji. Finally he intruded into Rokujoin and raped her. She bore a boy whose father was Kashiwagi. Genji later discovered the secret and became angry, but finally realized it was just what he had done to his father, and it was a punishment for his past treachery to his father and emperor. He decided to keep the secret of the birth of this boy and to bring him up as his real and third child. After Lady Murasaki died, he became a monk and secreted himself in .