This essay studies the role of metaphor as a supplement to the readings offered by the surface layer of a work. I interpreted the historical models scattered throughout the Genji as constituting a metaphoric structure. I took asnetonymic the vertical structure underlying the work, transmitting the commonaffective experiences of the age. Concretely speaking, I have dealt with Fujiwara no Yasutada, traditionally thought of as the model for Kashiwagi, and Sugawara no Michizane, Hikaru Genji's model. An analysis focusing on Kashiwagi's death shows it to be not merely the metaphoric fate of the child of Michizane's banisher, but a metonymic transformation containing the work's theme. That is to say, the world of Part II of the Genjj, standing in contrast to that of Part I,which is a tale about kinghood, destroys the latter's absoluteness. The thematic significance of Kashiwagi's existence is to constitute the core of an anti-kinghood tale.