This pattern of open cypress fans and blossoms from a yūgao gourd vine unmistakably evokes an episode from chapter 4 of The Tale of Genji—Prince Genji’s tragic affair with a mysterious young woman who responds to his poem by presenting a spray of yūgao blossoms on a fan and later dies at the hands of the jealous spirit of Genji’s neglected lover Lady Rokujō. The episode inspired a noh play called Yūgao, attributed to Zeami (ca. 1364–ca. 1443). In the play, the young woman appears as a ghost who achieves peace and enlightenment through the power of the Lotus Sutra.
