Commissioned by the Alumni Association of Kyo-icchu and Rakuhoku High School and Rakuhoku High School Wind Band for Kyo-icchu's 150th Anniversary and Rakuhoku High School's 70th Anniversary.

The Aoi Matsuri is an annual festival of Kamo-wakeikazuchi Shrine (Kamigamo Shrine) and Kamo-mioya Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) of northern Kyoto. It was also called "Kamo Festival" or "Kita no Matsuri (Festival of the North)" in ancient times, and in the mid-Heian period, the word "Matsuri," or Festival, simply referred to the Aoi Matsuri among aristocrats. This Aoi Matsuri also appears in the Tale of Genji, The Pillow Book, and other literature of the Heian period (794-1185).

The Tale of Genji describes an incident in which Aoi no Ue (Lady Aoi), a retainer of Hikaru Genji's legal wife, who was visiting the Aoi Matsuri festival, fought with Lady Rokujo's retainer over a cart and broke Lady's cow carriage. Lady Rokujo was unable to bear this humiliation and became a wandering spirit, tormenting Lady Aoi. Aoi, who had been bedridden for a long time, gave birth to "Yugiri (Evening Mist)" after a difficult pregnancy and died young, just when she thought that she and Genji had finally found their love for each other.

Inspired by this sad tale, I have tried to capture the deep and mysterious history of Kyoto's northern region concerning "Aoi (hollyhocks)" and the human relationships and emotions depicted in the Tale of Genji as I sensed them.

(Yuichi Abe)