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precinct of the Rinzai Zen monastery of tails, with elastic distortion of the rock Architectural elements reflect the To-
Zuiganji, located behind the town of Ma- forms and expressive brush lines that con- kugawa hegemony. The focal point of the
tsushima that lies in the center of the arc tour the islets. This ink-painting style is screens is Edo Castle, on the two right-
of the shore. One of the Main Provincial likely to have been inspired by Sesson hand panels of the left-hand screen, con-
Monasteries (shosan), Zuiganji was re- Shükei (c. 1504-1589) who was active in sisting of a multi-storied donjon and
stored in 1604 under the patronage of an northern Japan one hundred years earlier. numerous subsidiary buildings encircled
enlightened local daimyo, Date Masa- What is new in this late-seventeenth- by two moats. The castle is flanked by two
mune (1567-1636), lord of the domain of century work is the merging of genre great temple complexes, both prominent
Sendai. In the left screen the focus is the scenes with views of actual topography— Buddhist institutions closely associated
precinct of the local Shinto sanctuary of an approach totally different from the with the bakufu, Zôjôji on the left-hand
Shiogama Jinja, which enshrines a salt de- more abstract and conceptual views of screen, and Kan'eiji on the right-hand
ity, and the nearby fishing town of Matsushima painted by Sotatsu (fl. 1602- screen. Directly above Edo Castle are the
Shiogama at the south end of the shore. 1639) and his later follower Ogata Kôrin residences of the gosanke, the three Toku-
Shiogama literally means saltpan; in the (1658-1716). YS gawa branch families from the provinces
yard of one of the houses, four saltpans are of Owari, Mito, and Kii. Across the moat
prominently displayed. The two screens 118 Scenes of Edo from the castle are daimyo residences built
together thus take in the whole view of under the sankin kdtai system. lemitsu for-
the shore of Matsushima, from northeast ink, color, and gold leaf on paper malized the system in 1634, requiring dai-
to southwest. two six-panel screens, each 162.5 x myo to maintain a domicile in Edo and
The water of the bay is painted in 344.0 (64 x 1352/5) alternate a period of residence in their do-
deep blue, and the schematic mists that Edo period, after 1641 mains with a period in Edo; their families
float over it are rendered in gold and sprin- National Museum of Japanese History, lived continuously in Edo as hostages. Car-
kled with flakes of gold leaf. The view con- Chiba Prefecture touches identify the various residences, in-
tains as many boats, as islets: cargo ships cluding those of the Matsudaira, li, and
and fishing boats with full sails are return- This pair of six-fold screens illustrates se- Nabeshima families.
ing to the shore; others, like the large plea- lected aspects of the city of Edo (present- lemitsu is known to have loved hunt-
sure boats, are moving out to sea. There is day Tokyo) in the mid-seventeenth cen- ing and military events, many of which are
a veritable regatta of ships, barges, boats, tury. Visual weight is overwhelmingly depicted in the screens. A boar hunt can
dinghies, and skiffs, the details of which given to the architectural symbols and be seen on the right-hand screen, and to
are startlingly exact. Places on shore and leisure-time activities of lemitsu (1604- its right, a scene of muchi uchi, in which
islets in the bay, as well as sites of local 1651), the third Tokugawa shogun. The six warriors do battle with bamboo weapons,
shrines and temple buildings, are identi- panels of the left-hand screen present a lemitsu seems to be present as a spectator
fied and named individually by some relatively contiguous panorama of the city, in many of these scenes, though his face is
eighty small rectangular paper cartouches from a high vantage point to the east, fac- not shown. Below Mt. Fuji on the left-
pasted directly on the panels. ing west; occasionally, more distant views, hand screen is another scene of muchi
The depiction of the towns of Mat- such as that of Mount Fuji in the upper uchi. A red chair, facing away from the
sushima and Shiogama is not unlike those left corner, are included. The three left- viewer and surrounded by retainers carry-
in cats. 115 and 118, representing micro- hand panels of the right screen, seen from ing lances, is most certainly that of the
cosms of urban human activities in all a high western vantage point turned to- shogun. A passage at the top of the adjoin-
their specificity. Technically and stylisti- ward the east, continue this broad sweep ing panel illustrates a scene of pheasant
cally, the painting represents the com- of the city. The three panels at the right, hunting, and seated at the most advanta-
bined traditions of yamato-e of the Tosa though, clearly break with the continuous geous viewing point is a figure, probably
school, in its coloring and miniature de- view and incorporate scenes of the north- lemitsu, surrounded by retainers; his feet
ern outskirts of Edo.

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