after "Poem by Jitô Tennô" from One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse
Fine Arts The Japanese Prints: Ancient and Modern
Item Info
Source: Print and Picture Collection
Notes:
note card taped to back of board
Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849
Jito Tenno, from One Hundred Poets (Hyakunin isshu ga etoki.)
Hokusai began One Hundred Poets, the last of his great print series,when he was 76. On the surface, this print appears simply to depict villagers fording a stream, doing laundry, and carrying clean laundry towards the mountain at the left, called Heaven's Perfume Mountain (Ama-no-kagu-yama). It also alludesto a poem by the empress Jito Tenno, who ruled Japan from 690-696.
Spring, it seems has passed, and the summer comes again. For the silk-white robes, So it is said, are spread to dry On the 'Mount of Heaven's' Perfume (Ama-no-kagu yama).
On another level, Hokusai's sly sense of humor is evident. The tall drying racksin the background were used for drying processed fkax, which gives off a strong odor. The Japanese word ama means both 'flax' and 'heaven' and kagu means 'smell'. In this instance, Ama-no-kago does not mean "heaven's perfume' but 'the stink of flax'."
Notes:
Reproduction
Bibliography:
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/56967
https://catalog.freelibrary.org/Record/2030739
Image Dimensions Width: 37.5 cm
Creator Name: Hokusai, Katsushika, 1760-1849 - Artist