Kaoru Genji

Kaoru is a fictional character in The Tale of Genji [1] (Genji Monogatari). Kaoru has sometimes been called the first anti-hero in literature. Kaoru is known for having a strange but pleasant smell always around him.

He is the son of Hikaru Genji's wife, "Third Princess" (known as Onna san no miya in the Seidensticker version, or Nyōsan in Waley's), and Genji's nephew Kashiwagi. Kaoru is known to the world as Genji's son even though he was in fact fathered by Genji's nephew. Genji is aware of the affair by his wife and nephew Kashiwagi. However, this does not crush him because he feels that perhaps this is karma, for Genji himself is committing adultery with his step-mother Fujitsubo.

The final chapters of the Tale of Genji abruptly end, with Kaoru wondering if the lady he loves, Ukifune, is being hidden away by Niou, an imperial prince and the son of Genji's daughter, the current Empress now that Reizei has abdicated the throne.

References

Tale of Genji Museum

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[1] Tale of Genji Museum

Murasaki Shikibu's The Tale of Genji
Characters	Aoi no Ue Lady Fujitsubo Hikaru Genji Kaoru Genji Kiritsubo Consort Lady Rokujō Murasaki Ukifune
Anime/Manga	The Tale of Genji (1980) Genji Monogatari (c. 1989) Genji Monogatari Sennenki (2009)
Films	The Tale of Genji (1951) Sennen no Koi Story of Genji (2001) Genji Monogatari: Sennen no Nazo (2011)
Stage	Aoi no Ue The Diver Genji monogatari
Other	Genji Monogatari Emaki The Tale of Genji Museum Nise Murasaki inaka Genji