- NeerWas
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Everyday I'm shufflin'.
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Hashihime 橋姫 means "Bridge Princess." It is the name of the Shinto deity who guards the bridge at Uji, south of Kyoto, and of a Noh play about her. You can still visit her ancient shrine.
"Hashihime 橋姫" is also the name of a late chapter of the classic Japanese novel the Tale of Genji, where it refers to two princesses who live in seclusion at Uji with their father, the Eighth Prince, the disgraced figurehead of a failed palace coup.
The final ten chapters are now my favorite part of the Genji. They tell the story of Kaoru, Genji's nephew, who thinks he wants to retire from the world, but is held back by his feeling of responsibility for the two princesses after their father dies, and by his love for the elder princess. It also tells of the princesses' own struggles with their difficult situation. And it describes the adventures of Kaoru's philandering friend, Genji's grandson, Prince Niou. It ends with the tale of Ukifune, the princesses' long-lost half-sister.
For anyone who doesn't know the Tale of Genji, it is arguably the world's first real novel. It was written around 1000 AD by a Japanese court lady known as Murasaki Shikibu. And in my opinion, the next time the world saw a novel as psychologically subtle as the Genji was over 700 years later, with the Dream of the Red Chamber in China and the novels of Jane Austen in England.
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Jun 21, 2008 18:00
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Apr 26, 2024 09:37
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- NeerWas
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Everyday I'm shufflin'.
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MGS4 - a children's game
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Jun 21, 2008 20:31
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- NeerWas
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Everyday I'm shufflin'.
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what's up fake rear end anime crew
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Oct 25, 2008 22:32
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Jun 21, 2008 18:00
