Lady Rokujo

Attributes: Intelligence, Hannya, Beauty, Yokai

Lady Rokujo or Roku jo no Miyasundokoro is a fictional character in the Tale of the Genji. Her story is included in Historical Figures because the story is a very popular one in Japanese theater. She is the widow of Prince Zembo and a longtime mistress of Genji. She takes the name of her residence, which was located on the Sixth Street (Rokujō) of the capital city Heian-kyō, as an alias.

She is the protagonist of at least two Noh dramas, Aoi no Ue and Nonomiya ("The Shrine in the Fields").

Though Genji sees the Rokujō Lady with relative frequency, he's often neglectful of her. This makes the Rokujō Lady feel extremely jealous. Lady Rokujō also could not express her true feelings as she wished without breaking court decorum. Instead, she repressed her feelings of jealousy, which began to transform her into a demon. Her jealousy is so great that her spirit actually leaves her body and kills two of Genji's other lovers: the Lady of the Evening Faces and Aoi, Genji's wife. Though the Rokujō Lady recognizes her jealousy, she does feel bad and ashamed of what her jealousy is capable of doing. The lady is also very concerned about what might happen if the truth of the ladies' deaths gets out; her primary concern is her reputation, which she believes would be irreparably damaged.

Thinking that Genji could never love her after the murders, Lady Rokujō left the capital and joined her daughter at the Ise Shrine. Six years later, Lady Rokujō returned to Kyoto with her daughter and became a nun. Upon her death bed Genji came to visit her. She asked Genji to watch over her daughter but to please not take her as a lover. He honored her wish and they moved into the villa at Rokujo but even in death Lady Rokujo stayed vengeful and haunted the grounds. Upon hearing of the continued hauntings Lady Rokujo's daughter came back to the villa and perform the necessary rituals to put Lady Rokujo's spirit to rest.