Tradition / Region: Japan (Heian-period court literature)
Alternate Names: Rokujo no Miyasudokoro, Miyasudokoro
Category: Vengeful spirit / living ghost
The Myth
Lady Rokujo was a noblewoman of great refinement, the daughter of a minister and once the wife of the Crown Prince. Widowed at a young age, she later became the lover of Hikaru Genji. Though dignified and proud of her rank, she suffered deeply from jealousy and humiliation, especially as Genji’s affections shifted toward younger women. These unspoken emotions slowly twisted within her.
During the events recorded in The Tale of Genji, her resentment grew so powerful that her spirit began to leave her body without her conscious will. At the Kamo Festival, after being humiliated in a carriage dispute involving Genji’s lawful wife, Lady Aoi, Lady Rokujo’s spirit fully manifested. Invisible yet deadly, it began to torment Lady Aoi, who was pregnant at the time.
Lady Aoi suffered greatly. After a long and painful labor, she gave birth to a son, but her condition suddenly worsened, and she died only days later. Meanwhile, Lady Rokujo realized that her spirit had wandered when she noticed the smell of ritual mustard seeds clinging to her own clothing. Genji himself witnessed her spirit while tending to Lady Aoi. Horrified by what she had become, Lady Rokujo resolved to sever her ties with him.
She left the capital, parting from Genji at Nonomiya, and traveled to Ise with her daughter, who served as a sacred princess. Yet even distance could not quiet her heart. After returning to Kyoto, Lady Rokujo fell ill and died, entrusting her daughter to Genji’s care. Death, however, did not end her suffering.
Her spirit continued to appear, driven by lingering obsession. It haunted Lady Murasaki and later the Third Princess, afflicting them with sickness and terror. Through these hauntings, her bitterness toward Genji was made known again and again.
Only after memorial rites were performed, urged by Genji and carried out for her troubled soul, was it hoped that Lady Rokujo might finally find release. Until then, she endured as one of the most feared figures of courtly legend — a woman whose restrained emotions became so powerful that even death could not contain them.