Prefatory material presents authorial background, character lists, genealogies, and an essay on earlier Japanese fiction and the writer's art. The narrative continues an aristocratic courtier's fortunes: exile to Suma, a poignant liaison at Akashi that yields a daughter, episodes of return to court and retirement, and sequences focused on landscapes, seasonal symbolism, poetic contests and a painting competition. Recurring themes include desire, jealousy, impermanence, and the refinement of taste, while the prose emphasizes subtle emotion conveyed through seasonal imagery, court ritual, and the interplay of poetry and painting.