The Safflower Princess´s nose has always been a source of comic relief for readers of the "Genji". In the manga comics she is always depicted as being quite unattractive, the amorous prince having fallen in love first because of her voice and the arrangements of her junihutoen robes. (She was hidden behind the sudare screen, however as part of the courtly Heian rituals, the 12-layered sleeves were allowed to peek from under the screen. Based on the colour-arrangements, the suitor could see if his lady had good taste. The Safflower Princess´s taste was apparently meticulous.) Modern scholars however assume that Suetsumuhana´s nose, which was described in the "Genji" as being that of an elephant, probably resembles today's modern noses. The ideal of female beauty in Heian was to have very fine, thin noses, as depicted in the painted scrolls. Anything that fell outside this courtly norm must have been seen as obscene.