Artworks

Poem by Kamo no Chōmei from the Shin kokinshū

Artwork · Tawara Sōtatsu, Honami Kōetsu · early 17th century · shikishi · Museum of Asian Art

One of thirty-six shikishi in which Honami Kōetsu wrote poems from the imperial anthology Shin kokinshū (1206) over paintings chiefly by Tawara Sōtatsu. The poem by Kamo no Chōmei (1155?–1216) — “The autumn wind blows on all sleeves; why then is mine alone so wet with tears upon this evening?” — fills the page in vigorous, sensuous writing over a close-up of a rice paddy in green, gold and silver, the plants heavy with grain like a sleeve wet with tears (Miyeko Murase). 1 Mason 2005, pp. 267–268, fig. 308. ↩ Literatur Mason 2005: Penelope E. Mason, History of Japanese Art, 2nd, Pearson Education LTD. 2005.