Kamakura and The Tale of Genji Part 4 [First Lady: Matsushita Zenni]

Matsushita Zenni is often associated with a frugal image due to the episode in 'Tsurezuregusa' where she repairs paper screens, but that was likely after she had become a nun following the death of her husband, Tokiuji, when she was over forty. When she accompanied Tokiuji to Kyoto for his appointment as Rokuhara Tandai Kitakata, she was still in her early twenties.

The Rokuhara Tandai Kitakata was the top representative of the Kamakura Shogunate in Kyoto. Matsushita Zenni was, in modern terms, the First Lady. Far from being frugal, she was an embodiment of the highest level of magnificent culture, interacting with the imperial court and the nobility.

In the first year of the couple's appointment, Tsunetoki, who would become the fourth regent, was born, and in the fourth year, Tokiyori, the fifth regent, was born. Furthermore, in the year they returned to Kamakura, she was pregnant with Hiwada-hime, the woman who would later become the legal wife of the fifth shogun, Kujo Yoritsugu.

While in Kyoto, the couple maintained a close relationship with Fujiwara no Teika. We know this because it is recorded in detail in Teika's 'Meigetsuki'.

Teika created the 'Aobyoshi-bon' (Blue-Covered Book) version of 'The Tale of Genji' in 1225. This was exactly when the couple was in Kyoto, the year after Tsunetoki was born. This suggests that this family may have been the first Kamakura people to lay eyes on the 'Aobyoshi-bon' version of 'The Tale of Genji'. The couple would have been aware of the process by which Teika was producing his manuscript of 'The Tale of Genji', and they likely received news of the completion of the 'Aobyoshi-bon' version immediately.

Perhaps it was through this process that Matsushita Zenni came to know and appreciate the charm of 'The Tale of Genji'. Moreover, in later years, she became a mother figure to the nation as the mother of two regents, and she deeply respected Joto Mon-in Shoshi as a predecessor in that role. Shoshi was the Empress of Emperor Ichijo, whom Murasaki Shikibu served and for whom she wrote 'The Tale of Genji'. It is possible that Matsushita Zenni learned about these things from Teika.

The couple interacted with Teika on a daily basis in this way, and it is heartwarming to imagine a two- or three-year-old Tokiyori being held by Matsushita Zenni, reaching out toward the 'Aobyoshi-bon' version of 'The Tale of Genji', and being told, 'You must not touch that.'