A pictorial subject based on "Suma," Chapter 12 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji), which tells of Genji's exile to Suma, a beach near Harima 播磨 (present day Kōbe 神戸, Hyōgo Prefecture), after he has fallen from favor at court (see *Sakaki 賢木).
Scenes illustrated from this chapter include: Genji taking leave of his father-in-law and young son *Yūgiri 夕霧; Genji combing his hair in front of a mirror with Murasaki 紫, his principal wife (see *Wakamurasaki 若紫), about to receive Tō no Chūjō 頭中将, his oldest friend, and Prince *Hotaru 蛍, Genji's half brother; Genji visiting the grave of his father, Emperor *Kiritsubo 桐壷; and various renditions of Genji gazing at the sea from his simple dwelling in Suma, picking at his koto 琴 while geese pass overhead and the smoke from the fires of the salt makers wafts into the sky.
