Letter and Scent

"The Tale of Genji" is a love story

Hence, a man & woman's meeting scene often appears

But in the 11th century where the story takes place, men & women weren't allowed to meet face to face

They exchanged letters countless times before being physically intimate

Letters played a big role for attraction

So that message/contents/what is written was not the only importance, but many other elements as well

What kind of material, shape colour used for a letter paper

How the letter was covered by an envelope

How beautiful one's hand-writing was

And most importantly, what kind of perfume were put on papers

Each of these elements gave off subtle singles

Even if message/what was written on the papers was positive, a receiver would interpret oppositely due to other elements of the letter

This sensitivity
This close attention to details
This sense of seeing a letter as a whole rich experience\

is something the Japanese in the 21th century no longer has

Occasionally I make a hand-written letter. Probably a receiver reads only what is written there & disregards other elements. Probably I did the same