The anniversary came of the death of Kashiwagi. As the Suzaku emperor worried about the Third Princess who had withdrawn from the world as he himself had, he sent her bamboo shoots and taro root of the mountain harvests. Genji came upon her in tears. Looking at the girlish beauty of her profile, Genji told her of his regret to let her retreat from the world. Able to walk a few steps, the little boy Kaoru tottered up to a bowl of bamboo shoots and bit at one. Watching him still young and tiny, he realized his old age and wondered how long he could continue to live.

On an autumn evening, Yugiri visited the Second Princess, Kashiwagi's wife. The mother of the Second Princess, Lady Ichijo, gave him a flute, which Kashiwagi had left. At night, Kashiwagi appeared in a dream of Yugiri’s and told him , "I did not mean it for you". Yugiri described his dream to Genji who took the flute, saying that he should be responsible for keeping it. Yugiri also described the moment of death of Kashiwagi, who had wanted Genji to apologize. It had not been a very satisfying answer for this apology from Genji.