Uji, Kyoto

The last 10 chapters of The Genji are set in and around what was then thewild and remote area of Uji.

View upriver from the Uji Bridge in April. The most well-known imagefrom The Genji is of Ukifune and Niou crossing this river on a winter'snight.

Uji has a number of sites associated with The Tale of Genji. One of them is thelovely Mimuroto-ji temple.

Upstream.

As recounted in The Tale of the Heike, in the year 1181 Prince Mochihito was persuadedto act as the figurehead for a rebellion against the Taira clan. At thebattle of Uji Bridge, the small Genji force was defeated and the princekilled.

The current Uji Bridge ismade of concrete and wood but based on original designs.

The Genji commanders, Yorimasa and Nakatsuna, committedsuicide in the Byodo-in fishing pavillion.

Byodo-in, the only surviving example of Heian temple architecture, was originally Fujiwara Michinaga's villa. It was converted into a temple by his son in 1052.

The belfry at Mimuroto-ji temple is associated with Ukifune in TheTale of Genji.

View upriver from the Uji Bridge in autumn.