Scenes from The Tale of the Heike and the Tale of Genji

One screen shows "The Battle of the Carriages," chapter 9 in the eleventh-century novel the Tale of Genji. The rivalry of two high-ranking women spills over into violence as their attendants grapple to gain them a vantage spot on a crowded processional route. The other shows an unusual scene from Book 5, Chapter 1 of the thirteenth-century epic The Tale of the Heike. Taira no Kiyomori (1118-1181) moves the capital from Kyoto to Fukuhara on the coast of the Inland Sea. Here we see the imperial travel palanquin in a procession heading along the coast toward the temporary palace, the villa of Middle Counselor Yorimori.