Kaoru Udaisho is one of the main characters in this ancient Japanese novel consisting of 54 chapters. He appears in the "Uji Chapters", chapters 45-53. These chapters follow Niou and Kaoru, who are best friends. Niou is an imperial prince, but secretly he is Genji's son, while Kaoru is known to the world as Genji's son but is in fact fathered by Genji's nephew.  The chapters involve Kaoru and Niou's rivalry over several daughters (including an illegitimate one) of an imperial prince who lives in Uji, a place some distance away from the capital. The tale ends abruptly with Kaoru wondering if the lady he loves is being hidden away by Niou. Kaoru has sometimes been called the first anti-hero in literature. This story represents the benchmark of that extraordinary feminine culture born and developed in independent way and parallel to the dominant male culture. |