Page 192 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

100 series Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji. 102
Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) In this print a series of overlapping Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)
illustrating the poem by Empress wave forms crescendo in the left back- illustrating the poem by Kakinomoto
Jitó, from One Hundred Poems by One ground behind the sweeping diagonal no Hitomaro, from One Hundred
Hundred Poets as Explained by the of the river and a crossing line of trav- Poems by One Hundred Poets
Wet Nurse elers and workers carrying flax away as Explained by the Wet Nurse
after soaking. "Heaven's Perfume," the
c. 1835-1836 name of the mountain in the poem, c. 1835-1836
Color woodblock print was an epithet for the stench of soak- Color woodblock print
Approx. 26 x 38 (ioV4 x 15) ing flax in Hokusai's day. Hokusai Approx. 26 x 38 (ioV4 x 15)
Machida City Museum of Graphic Machida City Museum of Graphic
Arts, Tokyo uses this pun to interpret the scene Arts, Tokyo
in a comical manner. HG
191
Illustrated page 168
• One Hundred Poems by One Hundred
Poets is an anthology compiled by the Ah! the foot-drawn trail
101
courtier Fujiwara no Teika in 1235. The Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Of the mountain-pheasant's tail
poems became the subject of a card Drooped like a down-curved branch! —
illustrating the poem by Minamoto no
game played at the New Year, and as a Muneyuki, from One Hundred Poems by Through this long, long-dragging
result of the game's nearly universal One Hundred Poets as Explained by the night
dissemination in Japan, people would Wet Nurse Must I keep my couch alone?
instantly recognize the subject matter (Morse 1989, 30)
depicted in this series of prints by c. 1835-1836
Katsushika Hokusai. Color woodblock print • In this print fishermen drag a net
Approx. 26 x 38 (lo'A x 15) up a mountain stream, an image
Hokusai probably made a hundred Machida City Museum of Graphic that illustrates the poem's first word,
designs, and twenty-seven prints
were published.The poems, originally Arts, Tokyo ashibiki, or "foot-drawn," as well as
the hidden meaning of the word,
written about court life, are presented Winter loneliness "mountain." Hokusai composed the
through the eyes of a wet nurse. And In a mountain hamlet grows scene with lines radiating from an
as the life experiences of this work- Only deeper, when
ing-class woman were so far removed Guests are gone, and leaves and grass imaginary hub at the lower right cor-
ner. Spokes made up of landforms,
from those of the writers, her inter- Withered are; — so runs my thought. figures, and smoke from a fire on
pretations are occasionally quite com- (Morse 1989, 76)
ical. The general impression, however, shore range diagonally up to the left,
series
of triangles.
forming a stacked
is of seeing scenes through the eyes • This print is graphically the In the middle distance the poet
of a woman who is very much down strongest in Hokusai's series on the
can be seen sitting alone in his hut.
to earth, focusing on reality, not on anthology One Hundred Poems by One
elegant ideals. Hundred Poets. Hunters have built an Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (660?-739),
enormous bonfire in the snow, and one of the most beloved of classic
The poem represented here reads:
uncontrolled smoke billows toward Japanese poets, was raised to the
Spring, it seems, has passed, the figure at the left, whose face status of a Shinto god of poetry after
And the summer come again; expresses his discomfort. In the hut his death. HG
For the silk-white robes, to the right an oven with a hanging
So 'tis said, are spread to dry pot stands frozen, covered by snow.
On the "Mount of Heaven's Perfume." The figures anchor the left corner of
(Morse 1989, 28) a large triangle, the hypotenuse of
which is formed by the smoke, which
The prints in this group, Hokusai's flows in a great swath to the upper
last great series, exhibit much more right after angling left. The base of the
complex, and sometimes less effec- triangle is defined by various posi-
tive, compositions than those in his
tions of legs, vegetation, and snow
mounds, while a tree trunk estab-
lishes the right side. Within this area
seemingly random intersecting angles
and triangles echo the chaos of the
unleashed fire. HG