Lit. "everlasting summer." A pictorial subject taken from "Tokonatsu" ("Wild Carnations"), Chapter 26 of Genji monogatari 源氏物語 (The Tale of Genji). "Tokonatsu" is an old name for "nadeshiko" 撫子 (a late summer/autumn flower), often rendered as "wild pinks." This chapter concerns the problems arising from the introduction into the household of an illegitimate, long-lost daughter of Tō no Chūjō 頭中将, Genji's old friend and rival. The girl's country ways are unrelieved by the beauty and ability of *Tamakazura 玉鬘, being in fact emphasized by comparison.
Scenes chosen for illustration tend to focus on the more elegant sub-plots: Genji and other courtiers have a picnic in the fishing pavilion tsuridono 釣殿 on a hot summer day, and enjoy cooked trout or white fish, ayu 鮎; or Genji teaching Tamakazura to play the koto 琴 (Japanese zither) in autumn, when wild carnations bloom in the garden.
