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Japanese
Women Artists
1600-1900

Patricia Fister
with a guest essay by Fumiko Y. Yamamoto
Cover: Noguchi Shohin, Women Practicing Arts in a Garden (detail)

The exhibition and catalogue were made possible by generous grants from the National
Endowment for the Arts and the Japan-United States Friendship Commission.

Exhibition schedule:
Spencer Museum of Art April 2-May 22, 1988
Honolulu Academy of Arts — September 21-October 23, 1988

Designed by Janet Moore

Managing Editor Carol Shankel
Assistant Editors Don Dinwiddie and Karen Gerhart
Published by the Spencer Museum of Art
University of Kansas
Lawrence, Kansas 66045

Copyright ©1988 by the Spencer Museum of Art

All rights reserved
First edition
Library of Congress Catalogue Card Number: 87-63129
ISBN: 0-913689-25-4
 Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7

Introduction 9
17th-Century Women Artists
Chapter One: Noblewomen Artists 25
1. Ono Ozu - Hotei and Child 29
2. Ryonen Gens6 - Autobiographical Poems 30
3. Ryonen Genso - A Single Lump of Iron 31

Chapter Two: Atelier Professionals 33

4. Kiyohara Yukinobu - Taoist Immortals 36
5. Kiyohara Yukinobu - Apsara 38
6. Kiyohara Yukinobu - Hanrei and Seishi 39
7. Kiyohara Yukinobu - Murasaki Shikibu 40
8. Kiyohara Yukinobu - A Palace Scene in a Snowy Landscape 4]
9. Kiyohara Yukinobu - Peonies and Chrysanthemums 42
10. Sasaki Shogen - Poem by Tu Fu 43
11. Sasaki Shogen - Calligraphy in Various Scripts 45

18th-Century Women Artists

Chapter Three: Ukiyo-e Painters 47
12. Yamazaki Ryu-jo - Courtesan 50
13. Yamazaki Ryu-jo - Courtesan Viewing Cherry Blossoms 51
14. Yamazaki Ryu-jo - Young Actor Holding Narcissus 52
15. Inagaki Tsuru-jo - Courtesan with Attendant 53
16. Inagaki Tsuru-jo - Courtesan (not in exhibition) 54

Chapter Four: Haiku Poet-Painters: “Chiyo and Kikusha: Two Haiku Poets” 55
By Fumiko Y. Yamamoto
17. Chiyo - Hut and Gourds 57
18. Chiyo - Butterflies 58
19. Chiyo - Wren and Pestle 60
20. Kikusha - Spring Inspiration 64
21. Kikusha - Orchid 66
22. Kikusha - Four Haiku 67

Chapter Five: Waka Poets in Kyoto 69

23. Ohashi - Waka on Decorated Paper 716
24. Ohashi - Plum Blossoms dd
25. Kaji - Waiting for Spring Blossoms 78
26. Kaji - Kaji no ha aS)
27. Yuri - Waka Dedicated to Reizei Tamemura 80
28. Ike Gyokuran - Two Waka 81
29. Ike Gyokuran - Landscape Fan with Waka 82

Chapter Six: Bunjin (Literati Artists) 84

30. Ike Gyokuran - Spring Landscape 88
31. Ike Gyokuran - Peony, Bamboo, and Rock 89
32. Ike Gyokuran - Chrysanthemums and Rock 90
33. Ko Raikin - Two Birds 91
34. Ko Raikin - Landscape with Fisherman 92
35. Ko Raikin - Landscape 93
36. Tani Kankan - Fishing in the Moonlight 94
37. Tani Kankan - Kannon 95

19th-Century Women Artists

Chapter Seven: Late Edo-period Bunjin 97
38. Tachihara Shunsa - Bamboo and Plum 107
39. Tachihara Shunsa - Chrysanthemums and Rock 108
40. Tachihara Shunsa - Yellow Bird on a Branch 109
 110
41. Ema Saiko - Poem at Age Fifty
42. Ema Saik6 - Bamboo and Rock 11
43. Ema Saiko - Chrysanthemums 112
44. Ema Saiko - Landscape 113
45. Yoshida Sharan - Orchid 114
46. Yoshida Shiran - Chrysanthemums 11S
47. Yoshida Shiran/Okura Ryiizan - Peony and Orchid 116
48. Cho Koran - Butterflies 117
49. Cho Koran - Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu 118
50. Cho Koran - Winter Landscape 119
51. Cho Koran - Bamboo and Rock 120
52. Cho Koran - Plum Blossoms 121
53. Tokai Okon - Red Cliff 122
54. Tokai Okon - Poem about Huai-su 123
55. Tokai Okon - Calligraphy at Age Sixty-four 125

Chapter Eight: Ukiyo-e Painters and Printmakers 127

56. Katsushika Oi - Courtesan at the New Year 131
57. Katsushika Oi - Courtesan Writing a Letter 132
58. Katsushika Oi - Three Musicians (not in exhibition) 133
59. Katsushika Oi - E-iri nichiyo onna choho-ki 135
60. Katsushika Tatsu - Courtesan with Fan 136
61. Kakuju-jo - Kanadehon Chashingura 137
62. Kakuju-jo - Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura 138
63. Kakuju-jo - Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura 139
64. Yoshitori - Sankai medetai zue, no. 2 140
65. Yoshitori - Sankai medetai zue, no. 65 140
66. Yoshitori - Sankai medetai zue, no. 41 141

Chapter Nine: Waka Poet-Painters in Kyoto 143

67. Takabatake Shikibu - Autumn Waka 147
68. Takabatake Shikibu - Bamboo 148
69. Otagaki Rengetsu - Spring Moon Over the River 149
70. Otagaki Rengetsu - Bamboo 150
71. Otagaki Rengetsu - Cuckoo 151
72. Otagaki Rengetsu - Kyasu 152
TB Otagaki Rengetsu - Five Sencha Cups 153
74. Otagaki Rengetsu - Lotus Cup 154
75. Otagaki Rengetsu - Mizusashi 154
76. Otagaki Rengetsu - Chashaku 155
77. Otagaki Rengetsu - Five Tanzaku 156

Chapter Ten: Early Meiji-period Bunjin 160

78. Okuhara Seiko - Orchids 169
79. Okuhara Seiko - Summer Mountains 170
80. Okuhara Seiko - River Village in Spring 171
81. Okuhara Seiko - Cranes 173
82. Noguchi Shohin - Woman Bunjin Preparing Sencha 174
83. Noguchi Shohin - Women Practicing Arts in a Garden 175
84. Noguchi Shohin - Two Bijin 176
85. Noguchi Shohin - Autumn Flowers and Grasses 177
86. Noguchi Shohin - Lotus 178
87. Noguchi Shohin - Mountains in Autumn 179
88. Noguchi Shohin, Okuhara Seiko, and others - Collaboration of Paintings and Poems 180

Conclusion 182
Bibliography 184

Index 192

Notes to the Reader:

Throughout this catalogue, ages are given in Japanese count (adding about one year to the Western). In
the text and bibliographical citations, we have adhered to traditional Japanese and Chinese usage by
writing the surname first, except where a Japanese author has published in a Western language and
adopted Western usage. In premodern Japan, the names of Japanese women were frequently followed by
the Chinese character meaning woman, which is usually romanized jo or me. Joshi, the equivalent of
Miss or Mrs., was also common. The character ni (nun) was often attached to the names of Buddhist
nuns. To clarify that these feminine suffixes were not part of their given names, a space or hyphen has
been inserted before them. For the romanization of Japanese words, we have used the system employed
by Kenkyusha’s New Japanese-English Dictionary; for Chinese words, the Wade-Giles system. In
captions, height precedes width. All dimensions exclude mountings.
Acknowledgements

The idea for an exhibition focusing on Japanese women artists was born many years
ago, following several research trips to Japan during which I had been exposed to some of
their work. Since then I have made further trips to Japan as well as to collections in the
United States, and I am deeply indebted to the museums, temples, collectors, and dealers
who made artworks available for me to study. The pleasures and rewards of seeing this
project through from start to completion have been boundless. Among the greatest
pleasures were the chances to explore new areas of Japan, the opportunities to share my
thoughts with friends and colleagues, and the warm support which I received everywhere.
The exhibition and catalogue would not have been possible without the generous
funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Japan-United States Friendship
Commission, and I gratefully acknowledge their financial support. Additional support was
received from the Mary Livingston Griggs and Mary Griggs Burke Foundation. My research has
been supported by summer stipends from the National Endowment for the Humanities and
the University of Kansas Research Allocation Fund, as well as travel grants from the Kress
Foundation Department of Art History, the Hall Center for the Humanities at the University
of Kansas, and the Northeast Asia Council.
I extend my deepest gratitude to those museums and individuals who agreed to lend to
the exhibition. My debt to them is enormous. Stephen Addiss has been an enthusiastic
supporter at all stages of the project, and I wish to thank him for his unstinting
encouragement and guidance, as well as editorial comments on the manuscript. Joseph
Seubert gave untiringly of his time and expertise, helping me to locate source materials in
Japan and translating sections of one book. He and Midori Deguchi have been a
tremendous aid to me in making the arrangements for the Japanese loans. Sasaki Johei and
Kono Motoaki have generously served as consultants, providing introductions and
assistance during my research trips to Japan. I am also indebted to Roger Keyes and Tim
Clark for their advice regarding women ukiyo-e artists, Louise Cort for her counsel on
Rengetsu’s ceramics, Hiroshi Nara for assisting the Museum by preparing documents in
Japanese, and Susan Gronbeck-Tedesco for her suggestions on grant proposals.
In translating the Japanese and Chinese-style poetry written by women, I have received
the assistance of a number of scholars. I wish to acknowledge the help of Fumiko and
Akira Yamamoto, as well as the late Yabumoto Soshiro, in reading and interpreting waka. |
am especially grateful to Fumiko Yamamoto for her essay which is a significant addition to
the catalogue. I would also like to thank Andrew Markus for his aid in deciphering the
meaning of an inscription. For help in translating Chinese inscriptions I relied heavily upon
Joseph (Tsenti) Chang, Wan Qing-li, and Kwan S. Wong. Grace Fong also kindly assisted
in the interpretation and translation of a number of Chinese verses. I assume full
responsibility for any errors that may remain.
Lastly I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the supportive staff at the Spencer
Museum of Art. In particular, I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Karen Gerhart,
curatorial intern, who has facilitated my work by helping with all aspects of the preparation
of the manuscript and exhibition. I am also grateful to the Honolulu Academy of Arts for
hosting the exhibition in Hawaii.

Patricia Fister
Curator of Oriental Art
Spencer Museum of Art
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Introduction:
The World of Women in Japan, 1600-1900

Between 1600 and 1900, a dramatic flowering of women artists occurred in Japan. Yet
these women lived in a society that theoretically limited their every move. What did
talented women do when they were enmeshed in a structured social order? What outlets
were open to them? One of the goals of this exhibition and catalogue is to lead toward an
understanding of women artists of these three hundred years in relation to the political,
social, and economic conditions in Japan.
During the Edo period (1600-1868), so named because the capital was the city of Edo
(present-day Tokyo), Japan was ruled by a series of shoguns from the Tokugawa family.
This shogunate provided more than 250 years of peace and security after the country had
been devastated by civil wars for almost a century. The stimulation of Japan’s industry and
commerce led to the growth of large urban centers and a materialistic culture, a trend that
had begun in the preceding Momoyama period (1568-1600). The townspeople benefited the
most from the rise in economic prosperity, and the living standards of merchants and
artisans rose dramatically. The early decades of the seventeenth century also saw a rapid
expansion of Japanese activity abroad, due to the shogun’s enthusiastic promotion of foreign
trade. However, by 1640 a seclusion policy was put into effect which virtually closed the
country to the outside world. This policy was adopted in part to stop the influx of
Christianity, which was linked with foreign aggression and thus threatened the power of the
shogunate. No foreigners were permitted into Japan except authorized Chinese and Dutch
traders, and Japanese were forbidden to make voyages abroad.
Early in the seventeenth century, Tokugawa Ieyasu (1543-1616) enforced the division of
the populace into four major social classes. In descending order they were: samurai,
farmers, artisans, and merchants. Excluded from these four classes were members of the
imperial family and the aristocracy (who retained their high status), and the clergy.
Mobility within the system’s framework was restricted; in theory no man could rise above
the class into which he was born. Samurai were the most privileged class and received
fixed annual stipends based upon the rice harvest in their domains.! Second in rank,
theoretically, were farmers, because agriculture was the basis of the national economy. In
reality, however, the life of the peasants was usually wretched as they were continually
oppressed by the feudal lords controlling the land they toiled upon. Artisans and
particularly merchants soon came to enjoy the greatest prosperity, even though they were
relegated to the lower positions on the social ladder.
What happens to a society when it is restricted and isolated in this fashion, and at the
same time is enjoying a period of peace and prosperity? In Japan, education and cultural
values became very important; since the country was no longer at war, people had more
time and energy for creative expression. Without external stimulation, the Japanese began
to look internally, leading to new developments in art and literature. The government
responded by instituting a system of education that led to a rapid spread of learning and
literacy among all classes.
The new peace and prosperity with increased education and high respect for culture,
combined with the lack of other opportunities, spurred Japanese artists to extraordinary
achievements. Patrons of art existed at many levels of society, with different classes
cultivating arts to express their own views and interests. The Edo period is now celebrated
as an age of great artistic ferment and diversity. The renaissance in the arts included a
significant increase in the number of women artists, a remarkable feat considering the tight
restrictions placed upon their lives. Under certain conditions, women did break away from
the socially approved role of wife and mother. The succeeding essays will illuminate the
ways in which cultivated women rose above what was expected of them and won an honored
standing in art and literature.
Economic and Social Position of Women

The position of women in Japan was a lowly one under the patriarchal system which
became entrenched after 1600 when Japan was unified under a feudalistic government.
Prior to the ninth century, however, the descriptions of female deities in myths, and the
numerous women rulers indicate that the status of women was similar to that of men.?
However, the feminine image suffered drastic changes as a result of the influences of
Buddhism, Confucianism, and the growth of feudalism. Many Buddhist texts taught that
women’s nature was inherently evil, associating them with attachments to the sensual world
as opposed to the spiritual realm. Some texts went as far as to declare that women had no
hope for salvation until their rebirth as men.3 Consequently, once Buddhism began to
permeate the fabric of Japanese society, the status of women began to deteriorate.
The position of women declined even further in Japan after the adoption of the Chinese
philosophy of Confucianism. From the seventeenth century on, the Tokugawa government
fervently promoted Confucian teachings which generally regarded women as inferior to
men, reinforcing the doctrines of Buddhism. The lowliness of women was a fundamental
principle of Confucianism, which had originated in the strict Chinese patriarchal society.
This idea was elaborated in the metaphysical theory of yin and yang, central to the Neo-
Confucianism which flourished in Tokugawa Japan.* Yin and yang are the two principles
whose interaction is responsible for the creation of the universe: yang is the positive, bright,
male principle, and yin the negative, dark, female principle. A husband and wife therefore
symbolized yang and yin or, in broader terms, heaven and earth. In moral instruction books
for women we find the words “A woman regards her husband as heaven. She must respect
and fear him.”>5 Other Confucian texts stressing male superiority also include the following:
Woman has the quality of yin (passiveness). Yin is of the nature of the night and is dark.
Hence, because compared to man, she is foolish, she does not understand her obvious
duties . . . She has five blemishes in her nature. She is disobedient, inclined to anger,
slanderous, envious, stupid. Of every ten women, seven or eight will have these failings.
In this respect she falls short of man . . . Therefore, since she is foolish, in everything she
must submit to her husband.°
Such texts were widely disseminated, and consequently Confucian attitudes came to prevail
in Japan. Since women were considered inferior, moralists urged them to deport themselves
with humility and to accept the guidance of their wiser male relatives. Economically, a
woman was dependent first on her father, then on her husband, and eventually on her son.”
Within the feudal structure, a woman’s purpose in life was to marry and produce heirs to
safeguard the family succession. Depending on social class, most women were married
between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five. Marriages were arranged by families; the upper
levels of society frequently used daughters as tools in manipulating political or financial
relationships. The Momoyama and Edo periods were eras in which seiryaku kekkon
(political marriages) were notorious. This custom was practiced especially by feudal lords,
who when arranging peace treaties with hostile parties, often contracted marriages between
members of their respective families as guarantees of good faith. Under the guise of
marriage, women were used as hostages, and in numerous cases, they were divorced from
one husband and married off again according to their family’s wishes in order to expedite
another relationship. Because of the deceptions carried out in these political marriages,
warnings were issued maligning women’s sincerity, causing their image to sink even
further.®
A husband’s power over his wife was almost absolute. Limitations were placed upon
her physical activity, and she was discriminated against with regard to property and
divorce.? A husband could easily secure a divorce by writing a short statement of his
intention,'° and the shichi-kyo (seven reasons for divorcing a wife)! were reiterated in
moral instruction books. A woman’s only recourse in an intolerable marriage was escape.
There were a few so-called temples of divorce (engiriji) which were permitted to give
distressed wives sanctuary, and if they could show sufficient reason, to negotiate divorces
for them.!? Adulterous women were dealt with severely, and the Tokugawa hyakkajo
contains the following regulations: “A wife who commits adultery shall be put to death with
the man involved” and “it is no crime for a husband to kill an adulterous wife and her
partner if there is no doubt of the adultery.”!3_ Women were encouraged to remain within
the home, even to the extent of forgoing religious ceremonies at temples and shrines.
Special permits, which were difficult to procure, were required for them to travel beyond the
confines of their hometown. In short, women were virtually devoid of legal rights during
the Edo period.
The restrictions for women outlined above were promulgated by members of the
samurai class. Although the common people were expected to follow the samurai norms,
there is evidence that they did not always draw such sharp distinctions between the rights of
men and women in their everyday lives. Women from peasant, artisan, and merchant
classes were often given greater responsibility and participated more actively in the family
occupation. Because peasant women did work that was regarded as important, to some
extent they shared power with their husbands.'* Women of the merchant class also retained
greater freedom than samurai women. They were often called upon to assist in running the
family business, and at times went beyond merely helping their husbands and became
imaginative entrepeneurs. The most famous example may be Shuho (1590-1676), who
managed her husband’s pawnbroking and sake business with such success that she laid the
foundation for the fortunes of the Mitsui family.!5
Women of the merchant class often had enough money and leisure to become
accomplished in the arts, to visit the theater, and to dress fashionably. Their boldness and
indulgence in hedonistic pleasures are documented in the plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon
(1653-1724) and the novels of Ihara Saikaku (1642-1692) and Ejima Kiseki (1667-1736).!©
Although there was never a full-fledged movement (which would have been quickly stifled),
there was a growing spirit of rebellion amongst some women during the Edo period. One
of the earliest and most outspoken female critics of the feudal society and the restrictions
placed on women was Tadano Makuzu (1763-1825). The daughter of a Sendai physician,
Makuzu grew up in a scholarly environment. She became an avid student of both Japanese
and Chinese literature, and associated with scholars of Dutch studies. In her writings,
Makuzu promoted Western ideas, believing that women were being held back by Japanese
social mores. She wrote to the famed novelist Takizawa Bakin (1767-1848), asking for his
assistance in getting her work published; although he was impressed with her writing, he
replied that her criticisms were taboo and thus her manuscripts unpublishable.
Nevertheless, in 1817 Makuzu did get an essay printed entitled Hitori kangae in which she
voiced some of her opinions.!7
For the most part, such avant-garde ideas fell on deaf ears in Edo-period Japan.
However, there is evidence that by the nineteenth century, patriarchal authority had begun to
wither in some families. One finds increasing numbers of women beginning to marry
without parental permission, or refusing matches arranged by parents, especially among
women of the merchant class.'8 Popular literature and theater illuminate some of the
changes that took place in the image of women and their lifestyles. In the nineteenth
century, novels and kabuki plays regularly featured “bad women” who flagrantly disobeyed
Confucian edicts, and also portrayed tormented female ghosts who had been maligned by
their husbands. The success of such stories indicates audiences’ fascination with a “new”
type of woman, and their sympathy for those who were mistreated. Women were no longer
viewed as simple, one-dimensional human beings. As they became educated and rose to
greater prominence in society, women were conceived as multidimensional characters,
capable of displaying a range of emotions and performing evil deeds as well as good.
Despite the seeming shift in public view, women did not attain equal rights in the Edo
period. Feudalistic ideas had so thoroughly permeated Japanese society that it was not until
the overthrow of the Tokugawa government in the succeeding Meiji period that Japanese
women saw a change in status.

Influence of Moral Instruction Books

In order to teach women their proper role in life, over one thousand books on moral
instruction were published during the Edo period.'? Although literature of this nature can
be found from the Muromachi period (1336-1573) on, these books began to be printed in
large quantities from the beginning of the eighteenth century. All were based upon Chinese
prototypes, the earliest of which, entitled the Lieh-nii chuan (J: Retsujo den, Series of
Biographies of Women), was written in the Han dynasty.”° The Japanese expanded greatly
upon these moral tracts. This literature, deliberately aimed at creating the type of woman
convenient for the smooth functioning of the feudal system, can basically be divided into
two types: jinbutsu setsuwa (human stories) using famous historical women personalities as
moral examples, and tokumoku sekkyo (advocating virtues) employing direct admonitions.?!
Both types, permeated with Confucian ideas about women’s inferiority, focused on
women’s responsibilities in the home. The earliest publications were verbose and difficult
to read, but later they were shortened and written in a simpler style of script which most
women could understand.
Whereas in China most of the moral instruction books had been by women, in Japan
they were primarily written by men. This was partly due to the fact that in Japan, men
received better educations, and hence were the first to be able to read and interpret foreign
literature. Furthermore, it was men who wanted to keep women in their place. Many of the
important Confucian scholars of the Edo period wrote moral essays for women, including
Nakae Toji (1608-1678), Kumazawa Banzan (1616-1697), Yoshida Shin (1831-1860), and
Sakuma Shozan (1811-1864).
The Japanese scholar most influential in defining the role of women was Kaibara Ekken
(1631-1714). His Onna daigaku?? (Greater Learning for Women) became a part of nearly
every Japanese household, and its “wisdom” became the primary educational text for
women. In many cases, it was the only book that they were expected to read.
Consequently, the principle it expounded of danson-johi (predominance of men over
women) was thoroughly embedded in the psychology of Japanese society. Conditioned
from childhood to regard herself as lowly and to recognize her proper realm of
responsibility as the home, the Japanese woman was forced into a subordinate niche. The
feminine ideal of this age can be summed up as obedience and self-effacement.*3

Education and Women

In general, women were not encouraged to assert themselves intellectually; more

important were practical skills of household management along with sewing and weaving.
The majority of girls receiving any education were tutored at home, using the accepted
books on moral instruction which emphasized the cultivation of virtuous qualities. The
Confucian attitude toward education of women was quintessentially summed up by the
statesman Matsudaira Sadanobu (1758-1829) who wrote: “A woman does not need to bother
with learning; she has nothing to do but be obedient.”24
Learning to read was not forbidden, but officials were divided in regard to the most
appropriate literature for women. Some scholars such as Kumazawa Banzan felt that
women should concentrate on the Japanese classics, consisting of poetry and novels of the
Heian period (794-1185) such as the Genji monogatari. This literature was written
primarily in the native phonetic syllabary which was much easier to master than Chinese
characters. Other scholars, the foremost of which was Kaibara Ekken, strongly resented
the wide popularity enjoyed by the Genji monogatari, considering the work low in moral
tone and totally unfit for young women’s perusal. Kaibara set forth guidelines on the
education of women in his Wazoku dojikun?> which may be summarized as follows: Up to
the age of seven, girls were to be instructed in the same way as, and together with boys; but
beyond that age they were to be segregated. Thereafter, they were to be taught reading and
writing principally through the medium of kana syllabary, while they were also to learn to
make supplementary use of Chinese characters. They were to commit to memory ancient
poems of a classical type, to become acquainted with the primary Chinese classics, and also
to read treatises on women by orthodox scholars. After the age of ten they were not to be
allowed to go outside their homes, where they were to be taught sewing, weaving, and
arithmetic at the same time that their attention was directed to household economics.
It is clear that as long as women remained under the yoke of this sort of teaching, there
was little chance for them to freely develop their talents. Those women who acquired
significant literary skills were cautioned not to make any outward display of their
knowledge. Matsudaira Sadanobu cited a number of Chinese examples to prove that “When
women are learned and clever in speech it is a sign that civil disturbance is not far off.”26
There was a general shift in educational trends at the end of the eighteenth century
which had some effect on the type of instruction women received. In the seventeenth and
early eighteenth centuries, education had been primarily the prerogative of aristocrats and
high-ranking samurai. However, by the late eighteenth century some fiefs had begun to
show concern for the wider education of their subjects, which led to the establishment of
village schools or gégaku.?’ To be sure, the feudal lords who encouraged study among the
people in their fiefs usually had the motive of improving moral standards rather than the
desire to raise the intellectual level of the populace. Nevertheless, popular education
proceeded with official approval, and toward the end of the eighteenth century Japan
witnessed a rapid expansion of schools for commoners called terakoya.?8
Village schools served practical and vocational needs, providing training in the basic
skills of reading, writing, and arithmetic. These schools varied considerably in size; the
average terakoya had about thirty pupils.29 The teachers were generally local priests,
doctors, well-to-do farmers, or village officials. Although schools were established with
teaching boys in mind, girls were also permitted to attend. Statistics are hard to establish,
but at the time of the Meiji Restoration in 1868 it is estimated that forty percent of boys and
ten percent of girls in Japan were acquiring some kind of formal education outside of their
homes.2° This percentage may seem small, but it represents a significant rise over the
preceding centuries. The ten percent figure for girls is, in fact, surprisingly high
considering the social structure of Edo-period Japan.
Furthermore, by 1800, children of merchants or well-to-do farmers could enter one of
the numerous private schools (shijuku) specializing in Chinese studies and/or Japanese
classics which had been established primarily for samurai.+! As a result, in the nineteenth
century, successful merchants and village headmen were often as learned as the average
samurai, and literacy continued to spread at the lower levels of society. This led to a boom
in the publishing business, which responded with woodblock-printed books of all types
ranging from medical treatises, travel guides, novels, and poetry collections to storybooks
for children.
Young women who attended schools received a much more extensive education than
had been the case previously. As more women became literate, writers responded by
creating special books for this new audience beyond the traditional moral tracts. In the first
half of the nineteenth century, several novels were published which were aimed specifically
at women.3? Most popular were stories put out in serials about women’s secret loves and
sexual adventures. Since so many women had now mastered at least the native Japanese
syllabary, publishers found this new market a lucrative commercial enterprise. Literacy
made it possible for women to be aware of things outside their own immediate experience,
and it was one of the few means they had to escape from social pressures. It allowed
women to conceive of lifestyles that differed from those they were familiar with, and in
some cases it must have encouraged them to explore possibilities hitherto off-limits to
women.

Women in Literature and Art

There is a definite correlation between the vast expansion of the educational system and
the broadening range of roles for women. This is illustrated by the dramatic increase in the
number of women artists active in the nineteenth century. Although women of the elite
classes (noble and high-ranking samurai families) continued to practice the arts during the
Edo period, it was primarily women from lower-level samurai and townsmen families who
achieved recognition as artists. Members of these latter classes tended to favor educating
their daughters, either through private tutors or by sending them to school. The success of
women was thus closely linked with the type of education they received and the literary
skills they developed.
The great majority of Japanese women artists were also talented poets. There is a long
tradition of women active in literature in Japan, beginning with Murasaki Shikibu who
wrote the Genji monogatari around the year 1000. It was also during the Heian period that
many court ladies became highly skilled in the form of poetry known as waka. Fujiwara no
Kintd (966-1041) included several women in his compilation of poems entitled
Sanjiirokuninsen, representing Japan’s thirty-six great poets. There are many parallels
which can be drawn between women active in the arts during the Heian and Edo periods,
eras both characterized by closed-door policies and a flourishing of indigenous culture.
Because so many women of earlier ages were renowned for their novels, diaries, and waka,
the Edo-period literary world was prepared to accept women; in effect, literature was one of
the few sanctioned intellectual outlets open to women.
Following the dictums of Japanese Confucian treatises and moral instruction books,
waka was initially considered the literary form most appropriate for women. The first
recognized women poets of the Edo period were members of the court nobility or upper
samurai class, who as part of their general education received training in waka. However,
as education began to filter down into the lower echelons of society and more and more
women became literate, their literary possibilities increased. Some women became active
in haiku and Chinese poetry societies, and others wrote novels and travel diaries. In fact,
women writers seem to have been so much in vogue in some circles during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries that several important male teachers began to especially encourage
female pupils.33_ A testimonial to the popularity of pre-modern women authors are the
hundreds of published books written by them.*4
Once they had achieved recognition as poets and authors, it was easier for women to
gain entrance into the art world, in which there was a great deal of respect for those with
literary talents. Painting and poetry were not considered to be two distinct art forms in
traditional Japan, but instead were frequently united. It was common for artists to write
poems on their paintings, or to request a friend to add an inscription. On the other hand,
those who were primarily poets often took up the brush and painted. Following in the
footsteps of their male colleagues, many female poets, particularly those skilled in haiku or
Chinese poetry, developed artistic talents which earned them praise. This extremely strong
link with literature is thus an important feature of art by Japanese women when viewed as a
whole. Very few women were simply painters, as was common in the male-dominated art
world. In comparison with men, the possibilities for women interested in the arts were
severely limited; the two principal schools of painting which allowed creative women into
their ranks were bunjinga (see chapters six, seven, and ten) and ukiyo-e (see eae three
and eight) which were not bound to any established cultural tradition.

The Impact of the Meiji Restoration on the Lives of Women

New opportunities unfolded for women after the Meiji Restoration in 1868, when Japan
opened up its doors and allowed Western ideas to flow in. Japanese society underwent the
transformation from a semi-feudal to a modern state, heralding important changes in the
status of women.?> The abolishment of the feudal system meant the dissolution of the
samurai class and the establishment of basic legal equalities for all people. Despite some
resistance, the status of women slowly began to improve. Special schools for girls were
created in response to the growing demand for educational reform. Following Western
models, in 1872 a national system of compulsory education was initiated by the new Meiji
government which required that both boys and girls of all classes must enter school at the
age of six.3© Nevertheless, because of dominant conservative forces, it took several decades
before women were given primary and secondary educations equal to those of men and had
access to higher education. Among the avid supporters of women’s rights was Mori Arinori
(1847-1889), who promoted learning for women and a single standard of morality. The
famous educator Fukuzawa Yukichi (1834-1901)37 also supported equal opportunities for
women. Laws which discriminated against women were gradually repealed, and by the
mid-twentieth century women came to enjoy more social and political equality.
Several of the women represented in this exhibition lived into the Meiji era, which was
characterized by greater opportunities and gradual public recognition of women’s rights.
Noguchi Shohin (1847-1917) was appointed professor of painting at a women’s school in
1889, and later became an official artist for the imperial family. She and other women
painters actively submitted works to domestic and international expositions, a practice that
was Clearly borrowed from the West. Women also became members of large art societies
created by the government. All of these factors indicate the growing acceptance of women
who practiced art as a profession.
Although they may have found it difficult to break away from the norm dictated by
Confucian moralists, the women represented in this exhibition were far from ignored in
their day. Many of them earned the plaudits of their male peers and rose to prominent
positions in both literary and artistic circles. Their names are listed alongside men in such
publications as the Heian jinbutsu shi (Who’s Who in Kyoto) in sections on artists, poets,
and musicians. Compared with most women of their day, these women led unconventional
lives. The following essays will focus on each of the ten sections of the exhibition,
discussing the social and cultural milieu of the different categories of women and
introducing major artists.

Notes
1. There were many levels of samurai; the shogun and high-ranking feudal lords called daimyo formed what can be
termed a samurai elite class, while under them were middle- and low-ranking samurai.
2. Empresses of Japan include Suiko (r. 593-628); Kogyoku (r. 642-645), also reigned under the name of Saimei (r.
655-661); Jitd (r. 686-697); Genmei (r. 707-715); Gensho (r. 715-724); Koken (r. 749-758), also reigned under the
name Shotoku (r. 764-770).
3. For more information on Buddhist attitudes toward women, see Diana Y. Paul, Women in Buddhism.
4. Joyce Ackroyd, “Women in Feudal Japan,” 53.
5. From the Onna daigaku. Quoted from Ackroyd, 53.
6. Ibid., 53-54.
7. This reflects the Chinese doctrine of the sanju (three obediences) which was incessantly preached: “A woman
has no way of independence through life. When she is young, she obeys her father; when she is married, she
obeys her husband; when she is widowed, she obeys her son.” From the Lieh Tzu. Quoted from Ackroyd, 57.
8. Ackroyd, 50.
9. Earlier in Japanese history, during the Kamakura period (1185-1333), women were legally permitted to own
property. Daughters inherited property under the same conditions as sons, and it was common for husbands to
leave their estates to their widows. However, the picture changed in the succeeding Muromachi period, an age of
weakening central authority and warring feudal states. Clans depended heavily upon their material strength for
survival, and struggled to keep their land holdings intact. Instead of dividing property up amongst all the children,
the estate was usually bequeathed in one piece to one son named as chief heir. Ackroyd, 38-45.
10. These letters of divorce were known as mikudari-han (three lines and a half) indicating their brevity.
11. These stated that a wife could be divorced for disobeying her husband’s parents, for failing to give birth to a
son, for gossiping, for stealing, for jealousy, for loose conduct, and for disease.
12. Ackroyd, 65.
13. Ibid., 58.
14. Miyashita Michiko, “Noson ni okeru kazoku to kon’in,” in Josei Shi Sogo Kenkyu Kai, Nihon josei shi, vol.
3, 31-32.
15. Mary R. Beard, The Force of Women in Japanese History, 109-111. For further information on the role of
women in the Mitsui family, see Hayashi Reiko, “Choka josei no sonzai keitai,” in Josei Shi Sogo Kenkyu Kai,
Nihon josei shi, vol. 3, 96-105.
16. For example, see Saikaku’s Koshoku gonin onna (Five Women Who Loved Love), Koshoku ichidai onna (The
Life of an Amorous Woman), and Kiseki’s Seken musume katagi (Characters of Worldly Young Women).
17. For more information on Makuzu, see Seki Tamiko, Edo koki no joseitachi, 117-137.
18. Ibid., 18.
19. Ackroyd, 53. The Joshiro orai mono bunrui mokuroku lists 1,109.
20. This book by Liu Hsiang contains 110 episodes, including acts of virtuous women as well as examples of
women who had caused dynasties to fall. A similar type of book published in the late Han period called the Ni
chieh (J: Jokai, Women’s Admonishments) was written by Pan Chao, the daughter of a Confucian official. She
allegedly wrote it for her daughter in order to prepare her for marriage. The Japanese scholar Kitamura Kigin
translated the former book and published it in 1655 under the name Hiragana retsujo den. See Kakei Kumiko,
“Chuagoku no jokun to Nihon no jokun,” in Josei Shi Sogo Kenkyu Kai, Nihon josei shi, vol. 3, 292.
21. Ibid., 290.
22. This book represents a compilation of Kaibara’s writings which was put together and published after his death.
For English translations, see Basil Hall Chamberlain, Japanese Things (Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E.
Tuttle Co., Inc., 1971), 502-508, and Takaishi Shingoro, Women and Wisdom of Japan.
23. As Joyce Ackroyd points out, the subservient treatment of women was a concomitant of feudalism everywhere.
One has only to compare Japanese books of ethics with the book of the Chevalier de la Tour Landry for the
instruction of his daughters, written around 1371-1372, which includes the phrase “words of authority belong to the
husband, and the wife’s duty requires that she listen in peace and obedience.” See Ackroyd, 67-68.
24. Ackroyd, 56. Quoted from Takamure Itsue, Josei no rekishi, vol. 2, 268.
25. The following summary of guidelines was adapted from Naruse Jinzo’s “The Education of Japanese Women,”
in Okuma Shigenobu, Fifty Years of New Japan, 194.
26. Ackroyd, 268.
27. R.P. Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan, 31. See also Herbert Passin, Society and Education in Japan.
28. Dore, 253. The word terakoya reflects the fact that in the sixteenth and still much of the seventeenth century,
Buddhist temples (tera) were the main centers of formal education. Terako (temple children) came to mean simply
pupils and terakoya came to refer to schools, which were usually rooms in private homes or temples.
29. Most were individual enterprises run by a single teacher, sometimes helped by his wife and one or two senior
pupils. Sometimes a teacher was brought in as a cooperative endeavor by people living in the village.
30. Dore, 254.
31. For more information on these private schools, see Richard Rubinger, Private Academies of Tokugawa Japan.
32. Jinbo Gobi, “Kinsei bungaku to jorya,” in Yoshida Seiichi, ed., Nihon jorya bungaku shi, 6.
33. For example, the haiku poet Matsuo Basho (1644-1694), the kokugaku scholar and poet Kamo no Mabuchi
(1697-1769), and the scholar of Chinese studies, Rai San’yo (1780-1832).
34. For a comprehensive listing, see Joshi Gakushiin, Jorya chosaku kaidai.
35. For an in-depth discussion, see Koyama Takashi, The Changing Social Position of Women in Japan.
36. For further information, see Naruse, 203-213. See also Passin, chapter 4.
37. Fukuzawa wrote two essays denouncing the Onna daigaku as behind the times: Shin onna daigaku (New
Greater Learning for Women) and Onna daigaku hyoron (A Critique of the Greater Learning for Women). Naruse,
222%
 Die
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7. Yukinobu, Murasaki Shikibu (detail)

 oe

13. Ryu-jo, Courtesan Viewing Cherry Blossoms (detail)

18
23. Ohashi, Waka on Decorated Paper

19
34. Raikin, Landscape with Fisherman

20
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9. Shunsa, Chrysanthemums and Rock

6 1. Kakuju-jo, Kanadehon Chashingura

22
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81. Seiko, Cranes

24
 Seventeenth-Century Women Artists
Chapter one: Noblewomen Artists

Many of the recognized women artists of the seventeenth century were members of the
upper echelons of the samurai class, often allied to the imperial court. As stated in the
introduction, these women led the most restricted lives of all women in the Edo period,
confined to their homes and the inner quarters (6-oku) of castles or palaces, where they
devoted themselves to “womanly” pursuits set forth in treatises like the Onna daigaku.
Their main function was to serve their husbands or fathers, to raise children, and to manage
household affairs.
If women were members of the court nobility or the upper samurai class, however, they
had servants who performed the routine household duties.! This allowed them a certain
amount of leisure time which they spent enjoying various pastimes and amusements. One
was dressing and adorning themselves according to fashion standards of the day. There
were prescribed types of clothing for all members of an aristocratic or elite samurai
household, indicative of their status. Apart from daily wear, garments for special occasions
and ceremonial functions were also important. Judging from the elaborate textiles that have
been preserved, as well as those shown in genre paintings and woodblock-printed books
depicting the activities of noblewomen, a tremendous amount of thought was put into the
selection of fabrics and the combinations in which they would be worn for a wide variety of
occasions.
Another pastime considered appropriate for women was the game of incense
identification (kd-awase). Incense was introduced into the realm of amusements centuries
earlier during the Heian period, and it grew into an elaborate game replete with its own
special accouterments. To properly enjoy the incense game, women would set out a large
beautiful lacquer box, containing as many as twenty different utensils and smaller boxes.
The incense was placed on tiny wafers and burned, whereupon the participants would try to
distinguish the type and submit “ballots” with their choice.
Card games were also popular; the most famous consisted of cards with poems written
on them representing each of the one hundred classical poets of Japan. The reader would
be provided with a hundred cards, each bearing the name of one of the poets and the
opening line of the corresponding poem. Another set of one hundred cards with the closing
line of each poem was scattered on the floor in front of the competitors. To play this
game, the reader would recite the opening line of a poem from her set of cards, and the
participants would vie with one another to find the card with the correct closing line. The
winner was the person who made the most correct matches, and thus this game was a true
test of literary skills.
A similar game was played with shells (kai-awase). Two identical sets of 180 shells
were required, each with a different miniature painting on its smooth interior. The
paintings were taken from well-known poetry anthologies like the Kokinwakashia or popular
works of classical literature like the Genji monogatari. One set of shells was placed face
down before the players, while the shells from the other set were exposed one at a time so
that each painting could be seen.* The players then tried to find the matching shell from
the other set by turning over these shells one at a time. Since they were turned face down
again if there was no match, the competitors needed good memories. The woman who
discovered a shell’s mate would be awarded the pair of shells, and the player with the most
shells at the end of the game would be declared the winner.
The board games go and shdgi were also favorite diversions of women, and lavish
lacquer sets were a customary component of a well-born bride’s trousseau in the Edo
period. Another form of entertainment was No drama, brought into the castles, where
women could attend. This traditional performing art enjoyed widespread popularity among
members of the samurai class, and No drama came to occupy an official ceremonial
function during formal receptions.
 Noblewomen in a Daimyo’s
Castle
From the Ehon imayo sugata,
1802

For the wives and daughters of the upper class (shogun, court nobility, and daimyo),
personal artistic interests could be indulged only when they did not interfere with family
duties, but we know that some of these women did devote considerable time not only to
reading but also to writing poetry. Women born into high-ranking families were likely to
receive training in calligraphy and in composing the traditional Japanese form of poetry
known as waka.3 These skills enhanced their femininity and were considered essential to
women of their stature. An illustration in the 1802 Ehon imayo sugata (Figure 1) depicting
the inner quarters of a daimyo’s castle shows a wife with her attendants busily engaged in
literary activities. .
A position as lady-in-waiting at the imperial palace in Kyoto or in one of the many
castles in Japan was considered very prestigious for samurai-class women, and consequently
families competed with one another to secure posts for their daughters. Not only did such a
post make a woman more attractive as a marriage candidate, but it might also strengthen the
political and economic position of her family. Several women represented in the exhibition
served as attendants in the imperial palace or in a daimyo’s castle. One of the beneficial
aspects of such positions for them personally was that they were surrounded by other
cultivated women and had a certain amount of time to devote to artistic pursuits. Two
seventeenth-century women, who were widely recognized for their literary and calligraphic
skills, are Ono Ozt and Ryonen Genso.

Ono Ozu (1559 or 1568-1631)

The confusion surrounding the biography of the woman known as Ozi or Otsii is
staggering. To begin with, scholars are divided as to how her name should be pronounced.
The character nowadays usually read tsi seems originally to have been pronounced zi.4
Secondly, there are many conflicting versions of Ozii’s biography,> as well as her birth and
death dates.© The identity of her father is unclear, although the most knowledgeable
scholars seem to believe that he was Ono Masahide, the lord of a fief in Mino (Gifu
prefecture) who was an ally of Oda Nobunaga (1534-1582).7. When Masahide was killed in
battle in 1562, Nobunaga allegedly took pity on the young child and had her placed in the
care of his attendants. Ozt later went to Kyoto where she took up the study of many arts,
including waka with the high-ranking noble Kyajo Tanemichi (1507-1594). As a result of
her burgeoning talents, she was welcomed into aristocratic circles. Oza was not only
skillful at composing poetry, but she also became adept at calligraphy, painting, music
(playing both wind and stringed instruments), and the tea ceremony. A portrait of her
holding a shamisen appears in a later compendium of famous Japanese women (Figure 2).
There are diverse reports about Ozii’s activities in Kyoto: some biographers relate that
she became a lady-in-waiting to Yodogimi (1567?-1615), the beloved concubine of Toyotomi
Hideyoshi (1536-1598); others say that she was an attendant of Hideyoshi himself. Almost
all sources agree that Ozii married Shiokawa Shima no Kami, a retainer of the Toyotomi

26
 family, although the year is unknown. Because of her husband’s humiliating drinking
habits, Ozu later obtained a divorce from him and went off on her own, supporting herself
by tutoring high-born young ladies.8
Ozu’s talents attracted the attention of Tokugawa Ieyasu, who apparently summoned her
to Suruga (Shizuoka prefecture) to give instruction to his wife and daughter. While in his
service, Ozu’s prowess as an artist was also recognized, and on the occasion of Ieyasu’s
seventy-second birthday, the second Tokugawa shogun Hidetada (1578-1632) requested her
to do a portrait of his father.9
Ozu was held in such high regard that when arrangements were made for Hidetada’s
daughter Sen Hime (1597-1662, later known as Tenjuin) to marry Toyotomi Hideyori
(1593-1615) at Osaka Castle, Ozi' was asked to accompany her. According to some
biographies, Ozu also served Shinjotomon’in (1545-1620), the mother of Emperor Go-
Yozei, and Hidetada’s fifth daughter, Kazuko (later known as Tofukumon’in, 1607-1678).
Kazuko was married to Emperor Go-Mizunoo in 1620 at age fourteen.!0 She served as a
model for high-ranking women of her era because of her connections with both the shogun
and the emperor as well as her cultural accomplishments. Kazuko herself became a fine
Se calligrapher, perhaps under the guidance of Ozu.
Although Ozu actually may not have held all of these august positions, it is clear that
she was far from an ordinary lady-in-waiting. She was in demand because of her literary
talents, which extended to an early form of jéruri (chanting),!! and she most likely acted as
a poetry and calligraphy teacher to the women she served. Examples of Ozi’s writing were
disseminated in several woodblock-printed books which were used as models for young
women to copy.!?_ There is no question that her style of calligraphy was extremely
influential upon upper-class samurai women of her day,'3 and her elegant script was to
remain popular for close to 150 years.
The fact that Ozu lived through the tumultuous Momoyama and early Edo epochs may
account for the veil of confusion encompassing her life. It was an age of bloodshed, with
provincial feudal lords battling one another for power. Families were broken up by warfare
and records were lost or destroyed, resulting in a paucity of accurate documents. According
to existing accounts, Ozu may have served all three of the great warlords who united Japan:
Nobunaga, Hideyoshi, and Ieyasu. To gain their recognition was no easy feat for a woman,
indicating the extraordinary status that Ozu attained.

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 Ryonen Genso (1646-1711)

Like Ono Ozi, RyOnen was born into a prominent family, but in her case the
information is more reliable.'4 The period in which she lived was definitely a more stable
one, for by the middle of the seventeenth century the Tokugawa family had quelled any
signs of rebellion and established a firm base of power. Ryonen’s father was Katsurayama
Tamehisa (1600-1673), a descendant of the famous warrior Takeda Shingen (1521-1573); her
mother was a member of the noble Konoe family. As a child in Kyoto, Ryonen followed
her mother’s example and served at the imperial court. Since her mother was an attendant
of the imperial consort Tofukumon’in, Ryonen became a companion of Tofukumon’in’s
grandchildren. She learned various arts and accomplishments at this time, including
calligraphy and waka poetry.
As was customary, RyOnen entered into an arranged marriage at the age of seventeen or
eighteen; her husband was the Confucian scholar and doctor Matsuda Bansui (1630-1703).
Although accounts differ, they apparently had several children. In 1672, after ten years of
marriage, RyOnen made the momentous decision to leave her family and become a Zen
nun.!5 Her husband was apparently agreeable, and after arranging for a concubine to take
care of her family, RyOnen entered the Kyoto temple Hoky6ji which was headed by
Emperor Go-Mizunoo’s daughter. Dissatisfied with a “women’s temple,” after six years at
Hoky6oji RyOnen went to Edo for more intensive Zen study.
In Edo Ry6nen first visited Kofukuji to have an audience with the Obaku Zen monk
Tetsugyt (1628-1700), who rejected her by saying she was too beautiful to enter his temple
where she would be a distraction to the other monks. She received the same response from
the Obaku monk Haku6 (died 1682) at Daikyaan. Since her physical beauty was holding
her back from the Zen training she desired, RyOnen responded by burning her face with a
hot iron that left her with a permanent scar. This drastic action made her famous, and it
was memorialized by a woodblock illustration (Figure 3) in the Kinsei meika shogadan
(Famous Calligraphers and Painters of Recent Ages, second series, Edo, 1844).'© Hakuo
was so impressed at RyOnen’s dedication that he allowed her to enter his temple; she
became his leading pupil, earning her certificate of enlightenment in 1682.
Hakuo died in that same year, and RyOnen determined to build a temple in his honor. It
took time to obtain permission, but in 1693 she was granted some land in Ochiai, just
outside of Edo, and there she renovated an old temple called Renjoin. Hakud was
posthumously named founder of the new Renjoin, and RyOnen became the second abbot.
Ryonen’s temple, later called the Taiunji,'’ became a center of learning, and children
from the nearby villages came to receive their educations. RyOnen herself became
celebrated for her achievements in poetry, calligraphy, and painting, and she stands along
with Ono Ozu as one of the outstanding women artists of the seventeenth century.
Although their styles of brushwork were quite different from each other, they both
represented the aristocratic tradition of their time.

3. Ryonen Burning Her Face

From the Kinsei meika
shogadan, 1844

28
1. Ono Ozi (1559 or 1568-1631)
Hotei and Child, 1624
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 86.3 x 45.5 cm.
Signature: Ono-shi Zu-jo shoga
Yanagi Takashi Collection
Published: Kuroda Totoan, ed., Cha kake kansho (Tokyo:
Kogei Shuppan, 1972), 129.

Ono Ozu has been most celebrated as a calligrapher,

but her paintings are also highly admired. They are }
aq
somewhat rare and usually depict figures accompanied by
calligraphic inscriptions; in addition to Hotei, portraits exist
by Ozu of Daruma, Hitomaro, and Kitano Tenjin.'8 These @
were all subjects often painted by Zen monks, while
Hitomaro and Kitano Tenjin have literary connections as
well.!9 Ozu’s own literary interests make her choice of the
latter two figures easy to understand, but it is mysterious
that she should choose to render primarily Zen subjects in
a simplified ink style. There is no indication that she ever
studied Zen Buddhism. One might have guessed that she
would be drawn to the more colorful, decorative style of
painting practiced by professional court artists. Instead she
seems to have been influenced by the works of Konoe
Nobutada (1565-1614), a prominent Kyoto court noble
active in the same period.
Nobutada was known as a great calligrapher who
revived the rugged strength of early styles. After
becoming a pupil of the Zen monk Takuan Soho
(1573-1645) at Daitokuji, he began to create ink paintings
in the rough, bold style traditionally associated with Zen.?°
Ozu’s style of brushwork recalls that of Nobutada, with
thick gray lines dominating. Since Nobutada’s favored
subjects were Daruma and Kitano Tenjin, she was
apparently influenced by him in subject matter as well.?!
In this painting, Ozu has depicted Hotei leaning
sleepily on his large bag, gazing fondly at the small child
standing at the left.2? The child reaches out to touch the
bag with both hands, his curiosity brimming over. Because
of Hotei’s good luck connotations and his love of children,
this type of painting would be especially appropriate to
display on Boys’ Day, the fifth day of the fifth month. The
poem also alludes to children:
primarily curvilinear, rarely displaying sharp angles or
Yoshiashi no Not knowing of
Koto no wa shiranu “Goodness” or “evil,” ragged edges. Particularly in her calligraphy, the lines
Mitori ko o The young child range from thick and full to wiry and threadlike, exhibiting
Tomo to suru mi zo Is taken as a companion extreme changes in width for dramatic effect.
Sukashi karikeri By this pure spirit. Characteristic of her writing are the attenuated flourishes of
Ozi has written the poem from left to right, the opposite the brush, especially in strokes forming the long vertical of
of standard practice in China and Japan. In doing so, she the syllable shi. Ozu may have been trained in the
was influenced by a tradition associated with Zen painting aristocratic tradition of the Shoren’in school of calligraphy
in which the inscriptions were written in the direction (also known as the O’ie tradition) which was founded by
opposite to that which the figure faces. Since Hotei is Prince Son’en (1298-1356) in Kyoto.?3 However, the
facing left, Ozu began her poem at the left and moved fluency and elegance of her script established a new
toward the right. precedent in calligraphy styles, which came to be known
Ozi’s brushlines in both writing and painting are as “Ozu ryi.”

29
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Jey Ryonen Genso (1646-1711) as my deep devotion to Buddhism since childhood, but
Hakuo replied that although he could see my sincere
Autobiographical Poems
intentions, I could not escape my womanly appearance.
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 27.9 x 44.6 cm.
Therefore I heated up an iron and held it against my
Signature: Taiun Ryonen kinsho face, and then wrote as my brush led me:
Seals: Rinzai shoshu sanjugodai; RyOnen; Genso no in
Formerly to amuse myself at court I would burn orchid
Shoka Collection
incense;
Published: Addiss, “The Zen Nun Ryonen Gensho,” Spring Now to enter the Zen life I burn my own face.
Wind—Buddhist Cultural Forum, vol. 6, nos. 1-3 (1986), The four seasons pass by naturally like this,
182. But I don’t know who this is amidst the change.
Ikeru yo ni In this living world
Sutete taku mi ya The body I give up and burn
Ukaramashi ’ Would be wretched
Ryonen is primarily recognized for her skills in both Tsui no takigi to If I thought of myself as
waka** and the Chinese-style poetry which she Omowazariseba Anything but firewood.?°
occasionally wrote out in her bold, distinctive script. She Ryonen’s Japanese-style writing, seen in both the prose
also painted portraits of important Obaku Zen abbots,25 section and waka, bears some resemblance to the style of
probably for use in temple ceremonies. Examples of her Shokado Shojo (circa 1584-1639), who was one of the most
brushwork are rare; this calligraphy begins with a short gifted calligraphers of the seventeenth century.27 In
autobiographical prose passage, followed by her two most particular, their calligraphy shares a suppleness combined
famous poems composed upon burning her face, the first a with nervous energy. Hair-fine characters contrast with
Chinese quatrain and the second a waka. more thickly brushed ones, all written in rich black ink.
When I was young I served Yoshinokimi, the grand- Ryonen wrote out the Chinese quatrain in a somewhat
daughter of Tofukumon’in, a disciple of the imperial larger and thicker script, causing it to be the center of
temple Hokyoji. Recently she passed away; although I focus. The brushwork forming the characters is rounded
know that this 1s the law of nature, the transience of the
world struck me deeply and I became a nun. I cut my and flowing, showing stylistic traits of calligraphy by
hair and dyed my robes black, and went on a pilgrimage Obaku Zen monks. In particular, the manner in which her
to Edo. There I had an audience with the monk Hakuo horizontal strokes curve downward to the left recalls the
of the Obaku Zen sect. I recounted to him such things writing of Obaku Ingen (1592-1673). Yet Rydnen’s writing

30
exhibits a personal intensity and vigor which is purely her
own. The full range of her calligraphic skills are exhibited
in this unique combination of Japanese prose, waka, and
Chinese-style poetry.

3. Ryonen Genso
A Single Lump ofIron
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 77.5 x 15.2 cm.
Signature: Taiun nidai Daikyt Ryonen kinsho
Seals: Rinzai shosht; Mumei betsu azana Hakumei
Private collection

Bold and forceful single lines of calligraphy are an

important genre of Zen brushwork; many examples were
written to be hung in a Japanese tokonoma alcove during
the tea ceremony. Because of the striking simplicity and
the meditative nature of the messages, such large-character
calligraphy was highly praised and sought after by tea
enthusiasts.
Examples of single lines by Zen nuns are extremely
rare, making this work by Ryonen exceptional. The reason
for their scarcity may be accounted for by the fact that
traditionally, large-character calligraphy was brushed only
by Zen abbots, and RyOnen was one of the few women
who achieved this position. Single lines commonly consist
of a phrase of five or seven Chinese characters, often
steeped in complex Zen meanings. The five characters
here can be translated “Everything is contained in a single
lump of iron.” This phrase was not invented by Ryonen,
but was a well-known Zen expression. Interpretation of
such Zen maxims is difficult, but the meaning underlying
these five characters relates to one of the goals of Zen
Buddhism-to reach a state of mind in which one is
completely self-contained with no imperfections. It refers
to a primordial state of being, where elements are
undifferentiated. This phrase may have had special
significance for RyOnen because of her rejection at first
because she was a woman; the reference to iron may also
allude to the incident of burning her face.
The large-scale rendering of the characters creates a
bold visual statement which does indeed cause one to stop
and contemplate the meaning. RyOonen’s characters show
traces of Obaku influence, although not as prominently as
in her smaller script. Here she has exploited the technique
known as “flying white,” letting the brush run dry while
moving it quickly in order to let areas of white paper show
through the ink. The resulting rough, dry texture of the
“flying white” areas contrasts nicely with more heavily
inked ones, creating a work which is visually as rich as its
Zen meaning.
Notes
1. The wives, daughters, and concubines of the shogun, high-ranking 22. An almost identical painting which is dated to a different month of
feudal lords, and members of the imperial court were surrounded by 1624 is in the Burke Collection; however, the poetic inscription is
women attendants of various rankings. There were 250 women attendants different. This painting is reproduced in the exhibition catalogue
living in the honmaru of Edo Castle, and another 125 serving in the nishi published by the Tokyo National Museum, A Selection of Japanese Art
no maru. For an explanation of the hierarchical order of women from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection (Tokyo, 1985), no. 75.
attendants, see Tsubota Itsuo, ed., Nihon josei no rekishi, no. 2 (Shogun 23. According to Torie ShOji’s /setsu machimachi, she was a pupil of
to daimyo no fujin), 140. Matsuura Iwami, a practitioner of the Son’en style. The Hisseki ryugi
2. This is very similar to a modern card game called “Concentration.” keizu, published in the mid-nineteenth century, lists her as a follower of
3. Composed of thirty-one syllables arranged in five lines of 5-7-5-7-7. Emperor Go-Y6zei, who although trained in the Shoren’in tradition,
4. In the collection of Sanboin at Daigoji there is a tanzaku poem sheet sought greater diversity as he matured. See Maeda, “Ono Otsu,” 44.
signed “Zu,” with voiced consonant marks added over the hiragana. In 24. RyOnen wrote a collection of waka entitled Wakamurasaki in 1691
addition, vol. 2 of the 1685 Koeki shoseki mokuroku contains a list of which no longer exists.
calligraphy manuals which includes the Ono no Zu tehon, once again 25. RyOnen’s portraits of Ingen and Mokuan are in the collection of
exhibiting a voiced consonant mark. See Komatsu Shigemi, ed., Nihon Hodenji. For reproductions, see Nagata, Shijitsu RyOnen-ni, 62.
shoseki taikan, vol. 13, 238. 26. Both poems and the prose passage were translated by Stephen Addiss.
5. Iwahashi’s article “Ono Otst sha den” in Rekishi chiri gives an 27. Shokad6 had turned away from the prevailing Shoren’in tradition and
extensive outline of the different versions of her life, noting the sources revived the styles of such Heian-period calligraphers as Ono no
and quoting the information which they give. Unfortunately, scholars are Michikaze, Fujiwara no Yukinari, and Fujiwara no Teika. His own
not able to confirm many of the facts. I have relied primarily on Sudo calligraphy represents an integration of a wide range of stylistic
Motome’s Ono Otsu since he has written the most extensively on Ozu. influences.
6. Her birthdate is given as 1559 or 1568, and deathdate as 1616 or 1631.
The 1631 death date is more feasible, since there are two paintings extant
bearing the date 1624. See Cat. 1.
7. Other biographies state that she was the daughter of Ono Izumi from
Mito, or the daughter of Naganuma Kichibei who was later adopted by
Ono Noto. However, both Komatsu and Sudo believe that she was the
daughter of Masahide.
8. She may have remarried or become a concubine, but accounts differ
widely. According to some biographies she also had a child.
9. This portrait is in the collection of ZOjOji in Shiba. Ozi had previously
painted a portrait of Hideyoshi which is kept at Kodaiji in Kyoto.
10. This was a political move by her father, the second Tokugawa shogun,
who wished to strengthen ties with the imperial family. When Emperor
Go-Mizunoo abdicated, Kazuko became a Buddhist nun and adopted the
name Tofukumon’in.
11. One of the other controversial accomplishments of Ozu is her
authorship of the Joruri junidan soshi. Prior to Ozu’s time, this story had
been chanted to the accompaniment of a biwa. It was Ozi’s idea to use a
shamisen, and she was assisted by Sawazumi Kengyo who helped set the
tale to new music. Some consider this to be the origin of joruri, but
modern scholars question Ozu’s role.
12. These books include Johitsu tehon nisatsu Ono Tsi-jo; Ono no Zu
tehon;, Ono Otsu tehon; Ono Otsu ryu den so; Johitsu haru no nishiki:
Ono Otsu. See Maeda Toshiko, “Ono Otsu,” Nihon bijutsu kégei, no.
389, 44.
13. Komatsu has noted that Yodogimi’s handwriting shows the strong
influence of Ozu. See Nihon shoseki taikan, vol. 13, 238.
14. The most comprehensive sources of information on RyOnen’s life are
Mori Senzo, “Ryonen-ni” and Nagata Tairyo, ed., Shijitsu RyOnen-ni.
For an English language article, see Stephen Addiss, “The Zen Nun
Ryonen Gensho.”
15. In her decision to enter the Zen life, RyOnen may have been inspired
by her two younger brothers who had become Zen monks.
16. The illustration is by Ko Ryuko (dates unknown) after a design by
Hishikawa Moronobu (circa 1618-1694).
17. In 1701 the Renjoin was expanded and became a full monastery called
the Taiunji.
18. For reproductions, see Komatsu, Nihon shoryu zenshi, vol. 2,
161-162.
19. Kakinomoto Hitomaro (active circa 685-705) was a famous court
poet, and Kitano Tenjin is the deified name of Sugawara Michizane
(845-903). Michizane was a scholar, poet, and distinguished government
minister who died in exile as a result of false charges brought against him
by arival. After his death he came to be considered as a god of poetry
and art, and Shinto shrines dedicated to him can be found all over Japan.
20. Nobutada and the Daitokuji monks he associated with were all
actively reviving Muromachi-period Zen styles. For more information on
this revival, see Stephen Addiss, “The Revival of Zen Painting in Edo
Period Japan,” Oriental Art, vol. 31, no. 1 (Spring 1985), 50-61.
21. Nobutada’s daughter, Tarokimi, also did ink paintings of Zen subjects
which were heavily influenced by her father. This indicates that the Zen
ink painting tradition became popular among amateur painters of the
court, a phenomenon undoubtedly incited by Nobutada and the prestige
attached to his work.
Chapter Two: Atelier Professionals

Professional artists during the Edo period were by and large males, for this occupation
was not considered fitting for women who were expected to fulfill certain household duties.
Two exceptions were Kiyohara Yukinobu (1643-1682) and Sasaki Shogen (active late
seventeenth-early eighteenth century) who became famous for their painting and
calligraphy, respectively. Both were the daughters of artists, which played a critical part in
their breaking away from the traditional role of women. The fathers of Yukinobu and
Shogen encouraged their daughters’ artistic talents and permitted them to adopt this male-
dominated vocation.
What was it like to work for a professional workshop in Japan? The Kano school, with
which Yukinobu was affiliated, was by far the largest and most influential painting atelier in
Edo-period Japan. Its origins extend back to the fifteenth century when Kano Masanobu
(1434-1530) secured a position as an official painter to the Ashikaga shogunate. His son
Motonobu (1476-1559) expanded on Masanobu’s teachings to create the orthodox Kano
style, and instituted an atelier system organized around a familial structure which insured
the perpetuation of the school.! Throughout the four centuries of its history, the Kano
school was favored by the patronage of leading feudal lords and government officials. The
heads of the Kano school cultivated increasingly close ties with the controlling figures of
the day; this led to the creation of an organization of artists who worked within a complex
hierarchical system.
Stimulated by the appointment of three leading Kano artists (Tan’yu, Naonobu, and
Yasunobu)? as oku-eshi or “painters of the inner quarters of Edo Castle” in the mid-
seventeenth century, the Kano atelier evolved into a vast network which spread throughout
Japan. The title of oku-eshi was a prestigious one, for the Tokugawa shogunate presented
designated artists with generous stipends and property which could be passed on to heirs
along with their titles. Furthermore, oku-eshi were also permitted in the presence of the
shogun and allowed to wear double swords, privileges ordinarily extended only to members
of the samurai class.
One step lower than the oku-eshi and their schools were many ateliers run by the
branch houses of relatives and students who were allowed to establish independent
workshops. They constituted the middle level of artists within the hierarchy of the Kano
school, and were called omote-eshi or “official painters.” Omote-eshi also received
commissions from the shogunate as well as from daimyo, but they were not allowed to wear
double swords, and their stipend was not hereditary although the succession of property was
permitted.
In response to the needs of well-to-do townsmen, a third group of Kano artists came
into existence called machi-eshi or “town painters.” Most machi-eshi were students from
one of the various Kano ateliers. In general they used their own family names, but there
were a few exceptions who were allowed to use the Kano surname. As time went by,
countless numbers of machi-eshi appeared, comprising the bottom layer of the Kano school
organization.
The proliferation of the different levels of Kano workshops succeeded in safeguarding
the family’s dominant position in the artistic world of Edo-period Japan. Official status,
gained through connections with the Tokugawa family and other daimyo, was central to the
survival and success of the Kano school. For the most part, Kano artists were remarkably
consistent in maintaining and transmitting the family tradition, and the style associated with
the Kano name changed very little throughout the two-and-a-half centuries of the Edo
period. This remarkable feat was accomplished through guidelines such as those set forth
by Kano Yasunobu (1613-1685) in his Gado yoketsu (1680). This text stressed the
importance of preserving the stylistic norms of the Kano tradition and passing them on
 accurately to future generations.* Creativity was considered of secondary import, and
cultivation of personal styles was discouraged. Yasunobu described in detail the correct
styles and methods of painting, the manner of handling and moving the brush, and even the
quality of paper and inkstones. Through these kinds of guidelines, the Kano style was
codified. Artists who were not able or willing to follow these precepts were forced to
abandon their affiliations with the school.
The structure of a Kano atelier was classified into master (family head), senior, and
junior assistants. Assistants were most commonly the sons or relatives of the master. If
gifted family members were lacking, new talent was adopted into the family. Commissions
were contracted through the master and then parceled out to his assistants. Wages were
proportionate to an artist’s status within the atelier.*
Not all Japanese ateliers were as formally structured as those which functioned within
the orbit of the Kano school. Many artists ran small operations, with only one or two
apprentices. As a matter of course, sons (and more rarely daughters) learned the family
trade and took over when their father retired. The two women included in this chapter
represent the divergent poles of professional artists. Whereas Yukinobu worked
successfully as a member of the vast Kano school network, Shogen followed her father’s
example and established herself as an independent calligrapher.

Kiyohara Yukinobu (1643-1682)

Kiyohara Yukinobu was one of the rare women painters affiliated with the Kano school
who achieved recognition in her day.> Her father was Kusumi Morikage (circa 1620-1690),
and her mother Kuniko was a niece of the oku-eshi Kano Tan’yu.© Morikage was one of
Tan’yu’s most outstanding pupils, who for reasons unclear left the Kyoto Kano atelier
between 1675 and 1680 and went to work for the Kaga clan in Kanazawa. Yukinobu lived
in Kyoto for most of her life, and married another pupil of Tan’yu named Kiyohara Hirano
Morikiyo. Tan’yu undoubtedly played a role in arranging Yukinobu’s marriage, as he had
done previously with her parents. The fact that Yukinobu, her mother, and grandmother
were all married to Tan’yu’s pupils is evidence of the strong familial bonds characteristic of
the Kano school and of Japanese culture in general.’
Yukinobu probably first studied painting with her father Morikage, but there is reason
to believe that she also took lessons from her great-uncle Tan’yu,® perhaps studying
together with her husband. Since Yukinobu’s style is extremely close to that of Tan’ya, it
seems that he had the greatest influence upon her development as a painter. Tan’ya’s
popularity reached its peak in the second half of the seventeenth century, and therefore it is
understandable that Yukinobu would want to emulate him.
As a professional Kano painter, Yukinobu produced works of great variety on formats
ranging from large screens to hanging scrolls and small albums. She was trained in the
academic Chinese styles used for painting landscapes, birds and flowers, and figures.
Depending on the subject and format, she would employ a formal descriptive mode or
informal cursive mode of brushwork, the former being most common. In addition,
Yukinobu was adept in the decorative Japanese style known as yamato-e which was
traditionally used for rendering narrative tales or portraits. Certain works by Yukinobu
represent a synthesis of Chinese and Japanese styles, a feature also apparent in some of
Tan’yu’s paintings.
Like most Kano painters, Yukinobu’s thematic range was diverse. What distinguishes
her from her colleagues is the high percentage of paintings depicting women: most
prominent are colorful portrayals of famous Chinese beauties. Yukinobu also painted
Buddhist deities, Chinese figures, portraits of Japanese classical poets (often female),
scenes from Japanese narrative tales, birds and flowers, and, more rarely, landscapes. Her
style can be described as jewel-like, exhibiting meticulous linework and delicate application
of opaque colors as well as light washes. Occasionally she would paint in a bolder manner
primarily with ink, exemplified by the pair of screens in the exhibition (Cat. 4).
Most of Yukinobu’s works are painted on silk and mounted as hanging scrolls,
suggesting that she was most comfortable with this format. There is no record that she
participated in any large-scale wall decoration in which labor was divided among atelier

34
 members. Although Yukinobu was certainly as skillful as other Kano artists of the day,
smaller paintings were probably considered more suitable and ladylike. Social norms
would also have prevented her from traveling to the site of a castle or temple in order to
assist in painting sliding door panels and other architectural decoration. Within a Kano
workshop, smaller commissions such as scrolls were executed by one artist who, depending
upon his or her rank, would stamp on it either the master’s or a personal seal. The fact that
there are so many extant paintings signed and sealed with Yukinobu’s own name implies
she had achieved enough fame that patrons specifically commissioned works to be done by
her. In his novel Késhoku ichidai otoko (The Life of an Amorous Man), Ihara Saikaku
relates a story in which the Kyoto courtesan Kaoru commissioned a painting from
Yukinobu.? Yukinobu’s unusual position as a female Kano artist surely contributed to her
success, for owning a painting by a woman would have been a novelty in the seventeenth
century, especially when it showed the high level of skill and refinement that Yukinobu
possessed.

Sasaki Shogen (active late seventeenth-early eighteenth century)

J.&
i
Sasaki Shogen was as celebrated for calligraphy as Yukinobu was for painting.
Shogen’s father was the eminent Kyoto calligrapher Sasaki Shizuma (1619-1695) who
developed a personal style of writing called “Shizuma rya@.” Shogen married a retainer of
the Takakura family named Awazu Shinanonosuke.!° The year is unknown, but after her
husband’s death Shogen became a nun.!! To occupy her time she began to teach
calligraphy like her father, and before long she had become famous enough to have scores
of pupils, among them noblemen and women such as the princess Hokyoji no Amamiya
(1725-1764).'2, Unlike Ono Ozu (see chapter one), Shogen did not serve the shogun or the
court in any official capacity. She was purely a professional calligrapher who gave lessons
to people of all classes. She probably taught most students in her own home or studio,!3
but proper etiquette would have required her to go to the homes of her upper-class pupils.
It is doubtful that Shogen operated any sort of atelier, but as a calligraphy master she would
have received many requests from patrons for examples of her writing. Any moderately
well-to-do family in Edo-period Japan would have enjoyed having scrolls of famous Chinese
or Japanese texts or poems to display in their homes. Would-be patrons sought out artists
whose style they admired, and paid them for their efforts in either cash or the equivalent in
food or some other commodity. Shogen achieved such notoriety that she was included in
the Zoku kinsei kijin den (1798), a compilation of biographies and anecdotes relating to
eccentric personalities of the Edo period.!4
At first glance, Shogen’s calligraphy looks anything but feminine, characterized by bold
sweeps of the brush and dramatic flourishes. According to the Kinsei ijin den (1879) she
modeled her style upon the Chinese master Yen Chen-ch’ing (709-785).'5 But there is no
question that she was trained by her father, and hence was strongly influenced by his
personal manner of calligraphy which combined Japanese and Chinese traditions.'© Shogen
became proficient at both Chinese and Japanese scripts, exemplified by the long handscroll
in the exhibition containing passages in many different styles (Cat. 11). Several books were
published containing woodblock-printed examples of Shogen’s calligraphy which were
intended as models to be copied by students learning to write.'7 These books served to
spread ShOgen’s name throughout Japan, and consequently her personal style was widely
admired and imitated.
 4. Kiyohara Yukinobu (1643-1682)
Taoist Immortals
Pair of six-fold screens, ink,-colors, and gold on paper, each
150.5 x 306 cm.
Signature: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu
Seals: Yukinobu; Kiyohara-jo
Mr. and Mrs. Leighton R. Longhi Collection

The aura of magic and supernatural powers possessed

by legendary Taoist immortals has long fascinated the
Japanese, who learned about them through imported
Chinese art and literature.'8 Artists in both China and
Japan were fond of representing gatherings of immortals,
frequently in groups of eight. Specific immortals can often
be identified by their iconographic attributes. Yukinobu
has included eight, along with one child, in this pair of
screens.!? The two immortals most popular in Japan have
been Gama and Tekkai (Ch: Hsia-mo and T’ieh-kuai),
appearing here in the right screen. Tekkai sits at the far
right, blowing his spirit out of his body in order to travel
the world at will. To his left sits Gama, who is admiring
the dance of his three-legged white toad. Identification of
the other figures is more difficult. The man standing to the
left of Gama and Tekkai, dressed in leafy garments and
carrying a basket resembles Shin No (Ch: Shen Nung), the
legendary Chinese emperor who taught the arts of
agriculture and the properties of medicinal herbs. He is
also believed to have written a book on medicine
containing the secrets of immortality. In the left screen,
the man flying away on the back of a crane could be any
number of immortals. A long-standing symbol of

36
longevity, the crane was considered to be a messenger of
Taoist divinities; it served as the aerial courser of various
sennin including Wang Tzu-ch’iao, Kung Ho, Su Shé, and
Huang Pei.2° The other figures are not given attributes
specific enough to identify them as particular immortals.
This pair represents the only known screen paintings
by Yukinobu. The composition extends across both
screens, beginning and ending with massive tree trunks so
that the figures are neatly contained within the central
panels. The immortals are of primary interest; typical of
Kano paintings of this genre is the inclusion of only
enough landscape elements to suggest a setting. To
establish the prominence of the figures, Yukinobu outlined
their robes in bold black and gray strokes, setting them
apart from the background of light ink wash and gold.
Yukinobu’s ink paintings are almost always brushed in the
free, spontaneous style associated with Zen art, as
modified by the Kano school.?! Due to the large-scale
format, Yukinobu used a thicker brush than usual when
painting in a cursory manner. Her brushwork is very fluid,
emphasizing smooth and rounded contours rather than
rough, angular strokes.
In these screens, Yukinobu followed Kano prototypes
which were based ultimately upon Chinese images. For
example, the pose of Tekkai is almost identical to one of a
pair of paintings attributed to the Chinese artist Yen Hui
(active fourteenth century) in the collection of the Kyoto
temple Chion’in.??, However, Yukinobu’s brushwork is
quite different from the original. Typical of the
Japanization process are her simplified forms and sinuous
brushstrokes which give these screens their dramatic visual
impact.
 5. Kiyohara Yukinobu
Apsara
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 116.8 x 44.8 cm.
Signature: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu
Seal: Kiyohara-jo
The Mary and Jackson Burke Collection

Yukinobu occasionally painted Buddhist figures,?°

most frequently the white-robed Kannon who is closely
associated with Zen Buddhism. In most cases the figures
are elegant and feminine, beautiful to behold but lacking
the spiritual power of Buddhist art of prior centuries. This
secularization of Buddhist imagery was not unique to
Yukinobu, but a phenomenon which occurred in Edo-
period Japan in response to the dwindling spiritual power
of religion in this era. While families were required to be
affiliated with Buddhist temples, interest gradually shifted
away from religious ideals to everyday, earthly concerns.
This painting may originally have been part of a
triptych, since single scrolls of this subject are rare. In
Asian art, flying deities called apsara (J: tennin),
sometimes equated with angels, are usually shown
hovering around a Buddha. Arms outstretched in
preparation to strike a musical note, Yukinobu’s apsara
descends amidst swirling clouds. The celestial deity is
garbed in robes decorated with intricate gold patterns
which Yukinobu painted with an extremely fine brush.
Scarves, ribbons, and filaments of jewels flutter elegantly
in the breeze. Although the coloring is minimal, the
background of light ink wash causes the figure to appear
radiant.
In spite of its heavenly environment, Yukinobu has
thoroughly humanized the apsara by depicting a face no
different from that of her court ladies, with flawless skin
painted opaque white. Yukinobu was doubtlessly
responding to a patron’s taste for paintings of Buddhist
deities which reflected the worldly affluence and
refinement of the upper echelons of Japanese society.

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 6. Kiyohara Yukinobu
Hanrei and Seishi
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 71.8 x 32.3 cm.
Signature: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu
Seal: Kiyohara-jo
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (The Weld-Fenollosa
Collection, bequest of Charles Goddard Weld)

This seemingly idyllic scene, rendered in soft pastel

colors, represents a famous Chinese “Pygmalion” tale
involving intrigue and seduction. The hero was the
minister of the state of Yueh, Hanrei (Ch: Fan Li), who
assisted his ruler in ending twenty years of war with the
kingdom of Wu by conceiving the stratagem of sending the
beautiful girl Seishi (Ch: Hsi Shih) to divert the king of
———————
Wu from his official duties. Seishi was originally of low
birth, but Hanrei trained and dressed her to carry out his
ploy. Some accounts say that Hanrei later drowned Seishi
because of her boastful threat to captivate the Yiieh ruler as
she had the king of Wu. In paintings, Hanrei and Seishi
are usually represented together in a boat on lake T’ai,
alluding to Seishi’s imminent tragic death.
Yukinobu has enclosed the figures in a soft, misty
landscape, rendered primarily in broad strokes of wash.
Dark, jagged texture strokes were brushed over the rock in
the lower left foreground, bringing the viewer’s attention to
the two figures just beyond. Both Hanrei and Seishi have
somber expressions, as though they have resigned
themselves to fate. The melancholy mood is intensified by
Yukinobu’s use of cool blue and green colors and the
overcast sky. Her forte was this kind of figural subject,
rendered with the sensitivity and precision that won her
public acclaim.

39
 7. Kiyohara Yukinobu
Murasaki Shikibu
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 92.5 x 37 cm.
Signature: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu
Seal: Kiyohara-jo
: Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brest Collection

h
a

The Heian court lady in this exquisite painting can be

a
: identified as Murasaki Shikibu, author of the celebrated
oe Seg Genji monogatari. This novel was widely read and
j: admiredin Yukinobu’s day, with many scholars promoting
it as a literary masterpiece especially suitable for women.
Yukinobu may well have identified herself with the
multitalented Murasaki who was also skillful in calligraphy
and painting.
In her depiction of Murasaki and other female poets,
Yukinobu followed the tradition of the Tosa school, a
hereditary line of painters specializing in yamato-e subjects
who were patronized by the imperial court from the
fifteenth century on. By the seventeenth century, many
Kano artists were also expert in the yamato-e style, the
foremost being Tan’yu. Yukinobu may well have learned
this style from her mentor, but there is also evidence that
she may have associated with Tosa Mitsuoki (1617-1691).?4
Here Murasaki is shown in the act of writing, either
her diary?> or perhaps the Genji monogatari; a finished
portion of her text lies partially unrolled on the writing
desk in front of her. Seated amidst a splendid array of
brightly colored robes, she contemplates her composition
with brush in hand. The overlapping layers of brocade and
silk, rendered with unusually fine brushwork, represent the
formal dress of court ladies of the Heian period. Also
typical of Heian court women is the cascading long black
hair; here it is almost hidden in the folds of the robes
except for the few strands which flow over Murasaki’s right
shoulder.
Above the figure is a waka by Murasaki, believed to
have been inscribed by the court calligrapher Konoe
Motohiro (died 1722).2© The poem reads:
Meguri aite A chance encounter—
Mishi ya sore tomo But who was it that I saw?
Wakanu ma ni I could not be sure;
Kumo kakure ni shi Obscured by the passing clouds,
Yowa no tsuki kana The midnight moon.

40
8. Kiyohara Yukinobu asked Shonagon “How is the snow on Hsiang-lu peak?,”
A Palace Scene in a Snowy Landscape alluding to a verse by the Chinese poet Po Chi-1.?7
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 43 x 57.5 cm. Shonagon immediately recognized the allusion; in response
Signature: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu she had the lattice raised and proceeded to roll up the blind
Seal: Kiyohara-jo as had Po Chi-i. Her quick comprehension of the classical
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, reference earned her great praise.
The Shin’enkan Collection Yukinobu’s painting represents a slight variation on
Published: The Shin’ enkan Collection of Japanese Painting this episode, for the figure partially visible behind the
(Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin, 1984), no. 124.
closed blinds is not the empress, but a male, perhaps the
emperor. Nevertheless, the woman unrolling the blinds in
order to expose the snow-covered landscape must be Sei
Shonagon. Both figures are dressed in layers of sumptuous
Yukinobu’s fascination with Heian-period female textiles conforming to Heian courtly fashion. Shiny black
personalities and their literary works can be observed again tresses and stiff folded robes trailing behind her,
in this painting which represents a scene from Sei Shonagon’s profile is arrestingly beautiful. Yukinobu was
Shonagon’s Makura no soshi (Pillow Book). Like
expert at the meticulous, refined brushwork requisite for
Murasaki Shikibu, Sei ShOnagon was a lady of great traditional yamato-e subject matter. She has imbued the
beauty famed for literary accomplishments at the imperial composition with a quiescent mood through the smooth
court. One of the most famous incidents in her life is horizontality of roof lines, veranda, garden stream, and
depicted here; Sei Shonagon is rolling up a bamboo blind layered distant mountains. The soft, muted brushwork
(sudare) in order to reveal the snow-covered garden. The
forming the surrounding landscape is closer in spirit to the
story is as follows: One day the snow lay thick on the Tosa style than to Kano, once again exhibiting Yukinobu’s
ground and it was so cold that the lattices had all been versatility as an artist.
closed. Surrounded by her ladies-in-waiting, the empress

4]
9. Kiyohara Yukinobu associated with royalty. The two compositions are
Peonies and Chrysanthemums complementary; whereas the chrysanthemums and a stalk
Pair of hanging scrolls, ink and colors on silk, of bamboo grow rigidly upward, slicing the picture plane
each 98 x 38.6 cm. in half vertically, the peonies bend gracefully inward.
Signatures: Kiyohara-shi onna Yukinobu hitsu Furthermore, Yukinobu has skillfully balanced the lush
Seals: Kiyohara-jo fullness of the peonies against the sparse chrysanthemums.
Harvard University Art Museums (Arthur M. Sackler In typical Kano fashion, she has outlined each individual
Museum), Hofer Collection of the Arts of Asia
leaf and flower petal; however, the lines were done with an
extremely fine brush so as not to be overbearing. Within
the outlines she has applied colored washes of graded
Yukinobu’s ethereal touch is nowhere better intensity so that the plants have a slight sense of three-
demonstrated than in her bird-and-flower paintings. dimensionality. Yukinobu seems to have preferred
Peonies were among her specialties, here paired with understated coloring: she applied her pigments in such
another scroll depicting chrysanthemums. Both species of light layers that the texture of the silk shines through,
flowers have symbolic meanings in Japan where they are producing a warm glow.

42
10. Sasaki Shogen (active late 17th-early 18th century)
Poem by Tu Fu
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 132.6 x 57.1 cm.
Signature: Shogen sho
Seals: Sasaki-shi Jo; Seishid6
Shoka Collection

Sasaki Shogen’s brushwork is described as being

strong and forceful, for a woman,”8 a trait well exemplified
in this quatrain by the Chinese poet Tu Fu (712-770) which
she wrote with a bravura and velocity suitable to the large-
sized Chinese characters. The poem reads:
Over the blue river, the birds seem especially white.
In the green mountains, the flowers are about to become
ablaze.
This spring will soon pass by—
But when will the time come for me to return???
Shogen was adept in many scripts and styles in both
Chinese and Japanese calligraphy; here she has chosen to
use a semicursive running script, in which strokes are
simplified and written in a continuous movement without
lifting up the brush. In Chinese script Shogen is said to
have followed the T’ang-dynasty calligrapher Yen Chen-
ch’ing, and her writing here does indeed share a robustness
and vitality characteristic of the Chinese master. In his
more informal works, Yen Chen-ch’ing cultivated an
eccentric flavor by playfully juxtaposing large characters
with small ones and exploiting dramatic variations in line
width.3° When writing out Tu Fu’s poem, Shogen also
deliberately varied the size of the characters in order to
achieve an irregular and consequently more vigorous
rhythm. Whereas her first column contains eight
characters, the third has only five. The second-to-the-last
character meaning “to return,” written in enormous size
compared to the others, is a bold and dramatic feature also
employed by Yen Chen-ch’ing.
Although Shogen’s Chinese-style calligraphy shares
some qualities with Yen Chen-ch’ing, her brushwork is
tempered with features of the Daishi tradition learned from
her father Shizuma.?! For example, she has rendered some
of her strokes with a quivering motion causing them to
fluctuate in width. An electric tension is created through
abrupt stops and shifts in movement of the brush. Also
characteristic of the Daishi style are the brushstrokes
continuing out from underneath forms which resemble long
tails, most evident in the fourth character. Drawing upon
divergent models, Shogen has masterfully blended both
Chinese and Japanese script styles in this poem, achieving
a grandeur and vitality that are unmistakably her own.
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11. Sasaki Shogen resemblance to her father Shizuma’s style. Shogen’s
Calligraphy in Various Scripts interest in diversity extended even to her kana syllabary,
Handscroll, ink on silk, 31 x 643 cm. for in this scroll she employed three different compositional
Signature: Shogen sho arrangements including one known as chirashi gaki with
Seals: Geisokaku; Seishido; Shogen no in the columns of poetry scattered diagonally across the
Hakutakuan Collection paper.
The end of the scroll contains some of the most
extraordinary passages. The climax is two Chinese poems;
the first written in clerical script, and the second in an
A common practice of professional calligraphers ornamental form of seal script called “bird” script, in
during the Edo period was to demonstrate the range of which the characters are wonderfully pictorial.3+ These
their skills by writing out texts or poems in different scripts final two verses read:
sequentially in a single handscroll. Prior to the Spring waters fill the four valleys,
seventeenth century this custom was almost unknown; its Summer clouds envelop the strange pinnacles,
popularity seems to have been related to the tastes of Edo- The autumn moon raises its bright radiance,
period calligraphers who were fascinated with various Winter peaks dominate the lone pines.
scripts. Although many styles of Chinese calligraphy had Deer Cries
been introduced to Japan previously, scholars now began to Yu, yu, cry the deer
investigate them with new fervor, publishing manifold Grazing in the fields.
compendiums of different forms of script.3* This I have an honored guest;
handscroll by Shogen falls into that genre; a virtuoso We strum the zither, blow the panpipes,
performance, it exhibits a full spectrum of both Chinese Blow the panpipes, trill the reeds.
and Japanese styles of calligraphy.*? Included are Chinese Take up the basket of offerings—
Here is a man who cares for me
poems and prose passages written in bold running script
And will teach me the ways of Chou.
(gydsho), regular script (kaisho), clerical script (reisho), and
seal script (tensho); these were alternated with waka
inscribed in the Japanese syllabary known as kana. After
several sections of poems, Shogen added a biography of
T’ao Yuian-ming (372-427), a sign of her great respect for
the Chinese poet.
Shogen leaves one script and goes into another with
ease, flaunting her competence and ingenuity. Her
calligraphy is so imbued with personal flavor that it is
difficult to distinguish its sources. Nevertheless, Shogen’s
Chinese regular and running scripts owe a debt to Yen
Chen-ch’ing, and her kana writing bears a striking
Notes
1. For further information on Motonobu’s influence, see Carolyn 21. Like her great-uncle Tan’yi, Yukinobu associated with Obaku Zen
Wheelwright, “Kano Painters of the Sixteenth Century A.D.: The monks, who sometimes added poetic inscriptions to her paintings.
Development of Motonobu’s Daisen-in Style,” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 22. Many Japanese artists made copies of this pair, including Kano
34 (1981), 6-31. Motonobu.
2. Each of these artists established an atelier in Edo which came to be 23. Two other known examples by Yukinobu featuring Buddhist deities
referred to by its location: Tan’yi’s in Kajibashi, Naonobu’s in Kobikicho, depict Bukan with his tiger, and Benzaiten.
and Yasunobu’s in Nakabashi. 24. There is an album of paintings by Yukinobu depicting thirty-six
3. See Sasaki Johei, Edo kaiga I, Nihon no bijutsu series, no. 209 women poets, the inside cover of which was painted by Mitsuoki. See
(Tokyo: Shibundo, 1983), 47. Narazaki Muneshige, “Kiyohara Yukinobu hitsu nyobo sanjurokkasen
4. For more detailed information on the inner workings of Kano ateliers, Zab PASS)
see Yoshiaki Shimizu, “Workshop Management of the Early Kano 25. Entitled the Murasaki Shikibu nikki.
Painters, circa A.D. 1530-1600,” Archives of Asian Art, vol. 34 (1981), 26. The poem is not signed, but the painting’s box lid bears an inscription
32-47. attributing it to Motohiro.
5. Yukinobu’s name is recorded in a list of painters in the 1672 Bengyoku 27. Po Chii-i’s poem was:
sha, and Koga biko notes a painting dated 1666 signed “Kiyohara-shi The sun has risen in the sky, but I idly lie in bed;
Yukinobu hitsu,” indicating that she had established herself as an artist by In my small tower-room the layers of quilts protect me from the cold;
the age of 25-30. See “Kiyohara Yukinobu hitsu O Sho-kimi zu,” Kokka, Leaning on my pillow, I wait to hear I-ai’s temple bell;
no. 597, 239. Tlustrations in later woodblock-printed books such as the Pushing aside the blind, I gaze upon the snow of Hsiang-lu peak.
Hanasugata joshoku jinkan by Utagawa Kuninao (1793-1854) show (Translation by Ivan Morris)
women labeled as onna-eshi (women professional painters) painting fans. For a complete translation of this passage, see Ivan Morris, The
However, they remain nameless as they did not sign their works, Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon (New York: Columbia University Press,
indicating that they were members of lower-class machi-eshi ateliers. See 1967), 241-242.
Hanasaki Kazuo, Zue Edo onna hyaku sugata. 28. Komatsu, ed., Nihon shoseki taikan, vol. 19, 246.
6. Kuniko’s mother was a sister of Tan’yi named Nabeko who married 29. Translated by Stephen Addiss.
K6tari Koun (died 1702), one of Tan’yu’s four major pupils. 30. For reproductions, see Nakata Yujiro, ed., Shodo geijutsu (Tokyo:
7. Yukinobu may also have had a daughter named Harunobu who painted, Chuokoronsha, 1970), vol. 4, pls. 108-112.
but no works by her are extant. This information is recorded in Shirai 31. Shizuma’s teacher Fujiki Atsunao was the founder of the Daishi ryd@ or
Kayo, Gajo yoryaku, vol. 2, 140. lineage. Atsunao initiated a revival of the ornamental calligraphy style of
8. According to the Gajo yoryaku, Yukinobu studied with Tan’yu, as did the great monk Kobo Daishi (774-835) which featured tremulous
her brother Hikosaburd. See Soeda, “Onna Yukinobu no hanashi,” 9. brushlines full of sweeping curves. For examples of Daishi-style
9. Kaoru commissioned Yukinobu to paint a picture of an autumn scene calligraphy, see Komatsu, Nihon shorya zenshi, vol. 2, 9-16.
on plain white satin, and then asked eight court nobles to inscribe verses. 32. This activity was stimulated by imported woodblock books from
The result was a design of breathtaking beauty which Kaoru had made China containing examples of unusual scripts. Ming-dynasty
into a robe for herself rather than a hanging scroll. For an English calligraphers are well-known for their revival and reinterpretation of old
translation of this passage, see Hamada Kengi, The Life of an Amorous forms of writing. Chinese immigrants to Japan, such as the Obaku Zen
Man (Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1964), monks and Toko Shin’etsu (Ch: Hsin Yiieh, 1639-1696), also brought
185. books with them, arousing interest in clerical and seal scripts which were
10. The Kinsei s6go (1816) records that she married someone in the rare in Japan until the seventeenth century.
Yoshimi household, but according to a grave inscription, it was Shogen’s 33. A woodblock book was published which featured various scripts by
daughter who married Yoshimi. See Yoneda Yataro, “Shizuma ryu to Shogen entitled the Senjibun (One Thousand Character Classic). Her
karayO ni tsuite,” 144. father was also fond of executing calligraphy in different manners,
11. It was at this time that she adopted the name Shogen. This exemplified by a modelbook in the Shoka Collection which consists of the
information is included in the Shoga benran and the Zoku kinsei kijin den. One Thousand Character Classic written in regular script but utilizing a
See Yoneda, 144-145. variety of brushwork styles.
12. The daughter of Emperor Chugomon, Hokyoji no Amamiya took the 34. The last poem (written in seal script) is from the Shih Ching (Book of
tonsure in 1733, becoming a nun at the Kyoto temple Hokyoji. This Songs, circa 600 B.C.). T have based my translation on Arthur Waley,
temple was specifically for women; Ryonen had served as a nun there The Book of Songs (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Company,
before going to seek instruction in Edo (see chapter one). ie57)),
13. One of her seals bears the name “Seishido” (Hall of Quiet Thoughts)
which may have been the name of her studio.
14. Mikuma Katen and Ban Kokei, Zoku kinsei kijin den, 415-417.
1S. Komatsu, Nihon shorya zenshi, vol. 1, 682.
16. Shizuma was initially a pupil of Fujiki Atsunao (1582-1649), founder
of the Daishi calligraphy tradition. However, after visiting with the
Chinese immigrant painter/calligrapher Chen Yiian-yiin (1587-1671),
Shizuma was stimulated to learn Chinese script forms. He seems to have
studied Chinese calligraphy independently, perhaps learning from
woodblock books, and developed a unique style.
17. The following four books by Shogen were listed at the back of
Shizuma’s book entitled Senjibun (1726): Senjibun (two volumes, various
scripts); Toshi zekku (three volumes, grass script); Chokon waka (one
volume, running script); Ekashiko shinsho (two volumes, grass script).
See Komatsu, Nihon shoryad zenshi, vol. 1, 682. Other woodblock books
with Shogen’s calligraphy include: Sekihekifu and Ken Shin-shé (Ch:
Hsien Ch’en-sung) ishizuri. See Yoneda, 148-149.
18. For a discussion of the Chinese origins of these immortals, (called
sennin in Japanese) and their appearance in Japanese art, see Janet
Carpenter, “Sennin: The Immortals of Taoism,” in Japanese Ghosts and
Demons: Art of the Supernatural (New York: George Braziller, Inc. in
association with the Spencer Museum of Art, 1985), 57-65.
19. The immortals depicted here are not the standard group of eight
represented in Chinese art.
20. Will H. Edmunds, Pointers and Clues to the Subjects of Chinese and
Japanese Art (London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., Ltd., 1934), 317.

46
 Eighteenth-Century Women Artists
Chapter Three: Ukiyo-e Painters

Women artists working in professional ateliers were still a novelty in the eighteenth
century; they were most visible among the urban ukiyo-e artists. The pleasure districts of
the great cities of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka were the spawning grounds of urban culture in
Edo-period Japan. Overflowing with brothels, theaters, teahouses, public baths, and other
places of entertainment and assignation, these quarters were termed ukiyo or “floating
worlds” because the hedonistic pleasures they offered were so fleeting.
Ukiyo-e is the term for paintings and prints depicting activities and personages of the
“floating world.” Stimulated by the growth of popular culture, writers and artists responded
to the tastes of the lower- and middle-class townsmen patrons and created an art form that
all could enjoy. Among the most popular subjects were plebian scenes from daily life,
especially people at leisure and enjoying diversions of various kinds. Mirroring the
interests of their clientele, ukiyo-e artists focused their attention on life in the amusement
quarters. In particular, they took as their subjects the idols of the day, kabuki actors and
courtesans. These two subjects make up the majority of the ukiyo-e produced in the
eighteenth century.
In view of the tremendous pressure that Japanese society placed on individuals to
conform to the rigid rules of Confucian behavior, the entertainment districts which offered
escape from the heavy responsibilities of family and occupation were essential safety valves
against social unrest. Although the shogunate always maintained some surveillance over
them, these quarters were to a large extent self-governing. Unlike the conservative Kano
school, ukiyo-e ateliers were not bound by a fixed set of restrictive rules and regulations,
nor were they dominated by familial ties. It was also possible for artists who were not part
of an established atelier to make a successful living producing ukiyo-e. Furthermore,
because of the relative freedom of behavior in the pleasure quarters, the ukiyo-e world was
more receptive to women painters than were traditional art workshops. The more liberal

eiiO

4. Masanobu, Mu-me Painting

Bijinga
From the Ehon fiiga nana
komachi kinki shoga
Prof. Dr. Med. Gerhard
Pulverer Collection
 view toward women was reflected in the popular fiction of the day which often depicted
women as daring and brazen, not the meek creatures praised in Confucian texts.
In the metropolitan centers of Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka, several women ukiyo-e artists
were able to achieve success in the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. At least three
women were followers of the leading master Hishikawa Moronobu (circa 1616-1694): San
(active 1688-1703),! Ran-jo (active 1711-1715), and Yamazaki Ryi-jo (active 1716-1735). In
Kyoto, Mu-me (active 1716-1735), the daughter of Nishikawa Terunobu (active 1716-1735),
produced ukiyo-e, as did Tsuna-jo (active 1688-1710), a pupil of the illustrator Yoshida
Hanbei (active 1660-1692). In the later eighteenth century, several women studied with
notable ukiyo-e artists in Edo, including Chiyo-jo? with Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806) and
Kiyu-jo (active 1781-1788) with Kitao Shigemasa (1739-1820). Tsukioka Settei (1710-1786)
in Osaka had two female followers, Shunko-me (active in the eighteenth century) and
Inagaki Tsuru-jo (active in the late eighteenth century). Another Osaka woman ukiyo-e
artist was Katsura Miki (active 1781-1788), a pupil of Katsura Soshin. Unfortunately, works
by most of these women are extremely rare, and in some cases no paintings or prints are
known to be extant. Mu-me’s painting activity, for example, is documented by an
illustration (Figure 4) of her at work from a book designed by Okumura Masanobu
(1686-1764). The two best known women ukiyo-e painters of the eighteenth century were
Yamazaki Ryi-jo and Inagaki Tsuru-jo, whose works are plentiful and well represented in
Western as well as Japanese collections.

Yamazaki Ryt-jo (active 1716-1735)

Ryu-jo (also known as Joryti and Oryu) was the daughter of Yamazaki Bunzaemon, a
shogunal vassal in Edo. As a child she loved to paint, and from the age of six or seven
Ryu-jo was allegedly producing fine ukiyo-e. She also avidly studied waka, and frequently
inscribed poems on her paintings. Ryu-jo’s childhood talents are documented by the fact
that she often included her age when signing her works, especially those of her youthful
years.3
According to many biographies, Ryi-jo studied painting with Hishikawa Moronobu;+
however, modern scholars perceive this information as doubtful, suggesting instead that she
was probably self-taught.> If Ryu-jo had formally been Moronobu’s pupil, she probably
would have adopted one character from his name and called herself Mororya or Noburyt.
Furthermore, her earliest works are not fully within the Moronobu tradition, but share
stylistic characteristics with paintings by the Torii and Kaigetsudo ateliers, as well as with
those by Nishikawa Sukenobu (1671-1751). Ushiyama Mitsuru believes that Ryu-jo was
born around 1708, fourteen years after Moronobu’s death.© He arrived at this date by
comparing Ryu-jo’s works inscribed with her age to dated contemporary works which he
speculates may have served as her models. For example, there is a painting by Ryt-jo at
age fourteen depicting women dressing their hair which closely resembles Sukenobu’s
illustrations in the woodblock book Hyakunin jor6é shina sadame published in 1723. Using
this as the foundation for a chronology, Ushiyama believes that Ryii-jo probably began
learning how to paint around 1714-1716, perhaps from woodblock-printed books by
Moronobu and Sukenobu. Moronobu’s style was overwhelmingly popular, so it is not
surprising to find similar features appearing in works of artists outside of his immediate
pupils.
Most of Ryu-jo’s known paintings depict fashionable courtesans either alone, with
female attendants, or, occasionally, accompanied by a male guest. Ryi-jo favored bright
colors, especially red, blue, and green. Her extant works dated to the age of thirteen show
a rather childish handling of the brush, but she quickly mastered the art of painting and by
age fourteen was producing very skillful ukiyo-e. One of Ryi-jo’s more unusual works,
highly praised by the novelist and critic Santo Kydden (1761-1816), is a parody on scenes of
the Buddha’s death. Instead of the Buddha, it depicts the death of the ninth-century poet
and hero of the /se monogatari, Narihira.’? This work was painted with her distinctive
delicate brushwork, yet it is imbued with a humor typical of the playful atmosphere of the
“floating world.” However, Ryi-jo is most well-known for her depictions of sinuously
posed beauties.

48
Inagaki Tsuru-jo (active late eighteenth century)
There is little biographical information about Tsuru-jo.8 She lived in Osaka, and was
active during the second half of the eighteenth century, specializing in paintings of bijin
(beautiful women) that closely resemble those by the Osaka painter and illustrator Tsukioka
Settei. It is not known whether or not he was actually her teacher, or if she was connected
with an ukiyo-e atelier.
Like Ryu-jo, Tsuru-jo focused her attention on courtesans and other beauties of the day
rather than famous kabuki actors. These two artists were obviously fascinated with the
women who reigned over the pleasure quarters in Edo and Osaka. What led them to paint
in the ukiyo-e manner? Were they affiliated with an atelier, or self-taught as has been
suggested in the case of Ryu-jo? What attracted them to the world of the courtesan?
Unfortunately, these questions cannot be answered without more detailed biographical
information. One can only speculate that their interest in painting was stimulated by family
or friends who were somehow involved in the ukiyo-e world. The question as to why they
chose to paint primarily courtesans is quite provocative. It is clear that men found
courtesans alluring, but how were they viewed by other women? Given the restrictive
nature of Edo-period society, one might surmise that women looked upon the courtesans
with envy. Famous courtesans were glamorized in popular novels, and to outsiders, they
appeared to lead exciting, pampered lives. They were the fashion models of the day,
flaunting the latest styles in dress and hairdos. Courtesans were the trend-setters for
women, and the idols of every man. Compared with most women who were expected to
stay home and take care of their families, high-ranking courtesans enjoyed more freedom.
Their work was perceived as play, and despite the moral issues involved, many women
would have gladly exchanged places with them. By painting the beauties of the
demimonde, might Ryu-jo and Tsuru-jo have been acting out a dream?

49
12. Yamazaki Ryi-jo (active 1716-1735)
Courtesan
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 70.3 x 2A Orerms
Signature: . . . Joryi jusansai hitsu
Seals: ?; Yamazaki-shi hitsu
Private collection, The Hague n

This scroll is important as one of the earliest known

paintings by Ryi-jo, inscribed as having been brushed at
age thirteen.? Damage to the paper seems to have
obliterated the first part of her signature, which originally
would have been prefaced by her surname to read
“Yamazaki-shi Jorya jiisansai hitsu.” In her early works, —Pe
—
e

she usually called herself Joryi, but later used Joryu

interchangeably with Ryi-jo. Japanese art publications
usually refer to her by the name Ryu-jo.
Courtesans were social figures of great importance in
Edo-period Japan, and became the subject and stimulus for
a vast body of literature and art. In some respects they
were prostitutes, for their favors could be exchanged for
money. Yet at the same time these women enjoyed a
considerable degree of freedom and influence within their
restricted worlds. Many of them began, between the ages
of five and seven, as apprentices serving as attendants to
high-ranking courtesans called tay”. They received
extensive training in many arts, and were ranked according
to their class origin, beauty, charm, and skill.
The arresting pose struck by this courtesan, who
pauses to look coyly over her shoulder, is an imitation of a
design popularized by Kaigetsudo school artists (active in
the eighteenth century), who specialized in paintings and
prints of seductive courtesans. Ryu-jo’s painting is rather
naive in comparison with her ultra-sophisticated
Kaigetsudo models, indicative of her immature artistic
skills at the age of thirteen. Nevertheless, this work
documents the typical Japanese learning process, that of
developing and refining one’s skills through the copying of
a recognized master’s work. Ordinarily, an artist would
learn by imitating his or her teacher’s work, but as the
daughter of an Edo warden, Ryt-jo probably had to be
content with copying designs from woodblock-printed
books or illustrations. The charm of this painting lies in
the bold, vivacious manner in which Ryi-jo has brushed
her worldly subject.
13. Yamazaki Ryi-jo
Courtesan Viewing Cherry Blossoms
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 78.8 x 27.8 cm.
Signature: Joryi hitsu
Seal: undecipherable
Mr. and Mrs. Leighton R. Longhi Collection

This painting of a courtesan out with her attendant

viewing cherry blossoms represents the heights that Rya-jo
achieved as an artist; it is one of her most sophisticated
works. In typical Japanese fashion the scene is permeated
with a mood of melancholy, with the courtesan staring
wistfully at the blossoms that have fallen to the ground.
The period of blossoming of the Oriental cherry.is
extremely brief, but the element of impermanence makes
this flower all the more beautiful in the eyes of the
Japanese. The courtesan is reminded that life is transitory,
especially within the “floating world” that is her milieu.
The romantic image of courtesans found in ukiyo-e
obscured their often unhappy lives. Many had been sold to
brothels by their families while they were still children.
They were bound by contracts to work for a fixed number
of years, usually retiring by the age of twenty-five. If a
courtesan could find a patron willing and able to buy out
her contract, she was free to leave. However, as long as
she remained licensed, she was in bondage. There was a
high death toll among women in this profession, from both
illness and abortions. Beauty and fame quickly faded in
the “floating world,” as courtesans were replaced each year
by fresh “blossoms.” Ryu-jo’s waka, written out in thin,
spidery calligraphy to the right of the tree branch, adds a
literary dimension to the work.
Fumeba ashi To tread on them is bad;
Fumaneba ikan Yet if she doesn’t step, she cannot
Kata mo nashi move,
Kokoro zukushi no And there is nowhere else to go.
Yamazakura Scattered here for her pleasure—
The mountain cherry blossoms.
Landscape settings were somewhat rare for Ryu-jo,
who usually represented her figures in interior scenes or
against a blank background. The theme of a beauty
standing beneath a tree, however, had been popular for
centuries in Asia, and continued to be depicted by ukiyo-e
artists. Ryi-jo has painted the foreground bank, the tree,
and the winding river almost entirely with ink, causing the
brightly colored robes of the courtesan to stand out vividly.
The lineament defining the contours of her garment is
strong and fluid, displaying the confidence that comes
through mastery of the medium.
Like many ukiyo-e artists, Ryu-jo did not invent new
themes but fashioned her paintings after those popularized
by the leading designers of the day. The pose, as well as
the shape of the courtesan’s face and coiffure, are more
refined than Cat. 12, recalling the graceful type of beauty
popularized by Nishikawa Sukenobu. Despite the fact that

ny
he was active in Kyoto, Sukenobu established such a great
reputation that even though Ryi-jo lived in Edo, she would
have been aware of his work. Although Sukenobu
produced a number of fine paintings, it is likely that Ryu-
jo learned his style through illustrated books which were
more readily available. Ryi-jo shared with Sukenobu a
vision that women were graceful, docile creatures. In her
designs she presented an idealized version of the feminine
image which met with a receptive audience among the
thriving townspeople of Edo.

14. Yamazaki Ryt-jo

Young Actor Holding Narcissus
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 82 x 24.8 cm.
Signature: Yamazaki-shi Joryu ga
Seal: Sanshikyo
Idemitsu Art Museum
Published: Idemitsu Bijutsukan, ed., Shoki fuzokuga to
nikuhitsu ukiyo-e ten zuroku (Tokyo: 1972).

Extant works reveal that Ryi-jo painted primarily

courtesans, but she occasionally depicted the other favored
subject of eighteenth-century ukiyo-e, kabuki actors. This
willowy actor is shown portraying a young woman, since
by this time females were no longer allowed to perform on
stage. He adopts a feminine stance with practiced grace,
demurely looking downward. In his left hand he holds a
stalk of narcissus, probably alluding to a scene within a
particular kabuki play.
The garments worn by the actor are quite striking,
with a rust-colored haori overlaying a black kosode
decorated with white plum blossoms. Ryt-jo’s brushwork
defining the figure and robes is smooth and flowing. She
added slender lines of glittering gold paint as accents on
the actor’s cap and the upper portion of his black kosode.
Although the type and pose of the figure once again recall
Sukenobu, the painting exudes Ryt-jo’s intrinsic charm
and refinement, with the additional fascination of a woman
portraying a man portraying a woman.
15. Inagaki Tsuru-jo (active late 18th century)
Courtesan with Attendant
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 85.9 x 30.9 cm.
Signature: Inagaki-shi Tsuru-jo hitsu
Seal: Azana Senrei etsu
Estate of Louis Vernon Ledoux

All that is known about Inagaki Tsuru-jo is that she

was active in Osaka during the second half of the
eighteenth century, and that she painted in the style of
Tsukioka Settei. This enigmatic woman artist is all the
more interesting because numerous works by her have
come to light, all of them exquisitely painted.
Judging from her extant works, Tsuru-jo specialized in
paintings of courtesans. We cannot be sure that she
studied with Settei, but the fact that he had at least one
other woman pupil, Shunko-me, makes this premise
feasible. Settei was a prolific artist who achieved great
fame in Osaka during the late eighteenth century, and
Tsuru-jo was only one of many painters who followed his
style.
Tsuru-jo’s debt to Settei is apparent in this work
depicting a courtesan talking with her attendant who
carries a shamisen over her shoulder. The two women
might well be on their way to a special party. Both women
are elegantly garbed in flowing silk brocades. Settei’s
influence is evident in the stance of the figures, the shape
of their faces, and the way in which the robes pool around
their feet like water. The garments are brilliantly
decorated, reflecting the bold designs so popular among
women of the pleasure districts. Tsuru-jo reproduced the
woven patterns with great delicacy and detail, her
threadlike strokes of gold paint effectively imitating the
lustrous quality of brocade. Tsuru-jo’s fastidious
brushwork is also evident in the faces of the two women,
rendered with the precision and sensitivity that were the
hallmarks of her style.

of)
 16. Inagaki Tsuru-jo
Courtesan
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 77.2 x 27.5 cm.
Signature: Inagaki-shi Tsuru-jo hitsu
Seals: Ina-shi no in; Azana Senrei etsu
William Sturgis Bigelow Collection
Courtesy, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
(not in exhibition)

This seemingly modest courtesan deliberately assumes

an elegant pose as she pauses to glance back over her
shoulder, voluminous sleeves swinging at her sides. One
hand is entirely hidden within her sleeves, but the other
holding a sprig of fern makes a subtly enticing gesture.
Although perhaps only mildly sensuous to us, such
paintings were quite appealing to Edo-period Japanese.
Some courtesans were revered like Buddhist deities, for
they offered love and compassion, be it worldly rather than
spiritual.
The willowy, sinuous figure of this courtesan closely
resembles the type of woman painted by Tsukioka Settei,
and it is easy to understand why Tsuru-jo is believed to
have been his pupil. Similarities include the pose of the
courtesan and the manner of brushwork, but in particular
the type of face and hairstyle.!° As always, Tsuru-jo’s
linework and application of color show an incredible
degree of refinement. Especially notable is the exacting
fashion in which she rendered the facial features and hair
of the courtesan with thin, almost microscopic lines. The
brushwork defining the robes is bold in comparison,
especially in the right lower sleeve where the inner lines
exhibit dramatic flourishes. The skill of this painting
indicates the high level of professional work done by
women ukiyo-e artists in the eighteenth century.

Notes
1. San was the daughter of Moronobu’s son, Morofusa (active 1685-1703).
She is recorded as having done a painting at age twelve depicting two
women.
2. Chiyo-jo may have been Utamaro’s wife.
3. Her earliest recorded work painted at age twelve was a picture of
Kitano Tenjin, according to Akai Tatsur6, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 2, 54.
4. Sources which record that Ryu-jo studied with Moronobu are Kikuoka
Tenryo, Kindai seijidan, vol. 4 (1734), and Okada Heiji, ed., Kinsei
itsujin gashi.
5. See Ushiyama Mitsuru, “Yamazaki Ryi-jo ko,” 1-18; Akai, ed.,
Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 2, 54.
6. Ibid., 6.
7. This painting is in the Nogata Collection in Yokohama, and has a box
inscription dated 1801 by Santo Kydden. For an illustration, see Akai,
ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 2, no. 26.
8. In comparison with other schools of Japanese painting, it is frequently
the case that we have only scant information about the lives of ukiyo-e
artists.
9. Other known early paintings include a bijin leaning out from
underneath a mosquito net reading a letter (age thirteen), in a private
Japanese collection; a bijin carrying an umbrella (age fourteen), in the
MOA Museum of Art; two bijin standing by a horse (age fourteen), in a
private Japanese collection; and a courtesan entertaining a male customer
(age fourteen), in the Otani Collection. For reproductions, see Ushiyama
Mitsuru,“Yamazaki Ryii-jo ko” and Akai, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 2, 55.
10. The hairstyle worn by this courtesan is post-1772 in date, indicating
that the painting, too, was done after that time.

54
 Chapter Four: Haiku Poet-Painters

Chiyo and Kikusha: Two Haiku Poets

By Fumiko Y. Yamamoto

The poetry of brevity and evocation, haiku,! gloriously blossomed during the late
seventeenth century in the works of Matsuo Basho (1644-1694). This master poet expressed
his profound empathy with the human and natural worlds in concise three-line poems of
only seventeen syllables (the first and third lines contain five syllables, and the second line
has seven). His haiku reflect a sensitivity to many diverse aspects of nature: he delights in
the fragile beauty of tiny, frail creatures and humble weeds, as well as in the more
monumental grandeur of landscapes enveloped by the incessant flow of the four seasons.
Using the direct and unadorned vocabulary of everyday life, Basho sketches the fleeting and
piquant encounter between heightened human sensibility and the ephemeral natural
environment. Because of its simplicity of expression and earnest sentiments, haiku became
————
widely admired by commoners. BashO’s succinct, redolent poetic style inspired a number
of poets throughout Japan to compose in the haiku idiom, including many women.?
The women who succeeded in distinguishing themselves in haiku were frequently
directly connected with Basho or his pupils. The male poet Kagami Shiko (1665-1731),
who came from the Mino area (Gifu prefecture), was among Basho’s so-called ten
disciples. After Basho’s death, Shiko energetically spread the art of haiku throughout
Mino and in the surrounding areas.4 Two women haiku poets emerged from Shiko’s Mino
school: Kaga no Chiyo (Chiyo of Kaga) and Kikusha. Eventually their haiku became more
popular than that of Shiko. Chiyo and Kikusha are special among women haiku poets
because they also brushed paintings to accompany their verses. This chapter will focus on
their lives and the development of their literary and visual arts.

Chiyo (1703-1775)
Chiyo was born in 1703 in the town of Matsuto in Kaga (Ishikawa prefecture), the
daughter of the scroll mounter Fukumasuya.* Information about this gifted child’s early
poetry is incomplete although she was supposed to have composed her first haiku at age
seven. Chiyo’s name became well-known in poetic circles after she became Shiko’s pupil.
The haiku master had journeyed to Kaga where one of his local pupils, Kitagataya Taisui,
recommended that Shiko meet Chiyo. Shiko was so impressed with Chiyo’s poetry that he
eagerly accepted her into his school. He enthusiastically praised the sixteen-year-old Chiyo
in a letter to one of his followers, calling her “‘a marvelous expert [poet].”” Shiko might
have had an ulterior motive in inviting this young girl to join his school, for her talent
would have enhanced its reputation, especially since women poets were still rather rare at
that time.®
It is uncertain whether or not Chiyo ever married. If she did, it was at an early age for
a brief period of less than two years while she lived in the neighboring town of Kanazawa.
By the time she was twenty, she had returned to her parents’ home in Matsuto. When she
was twenty-three, Chiyo traveled to Ise (Mie prefecture) to visit another of Basho’s students,
Bakurinsha Otsuyt (1675-1739). Although Shiko was her official teacher, Chiyo became
affiliated with Otsuyu and was accepted into his poetic coterie in order to expand her study
of the art of haiku. This association lasted for more than ten years, until Otsuyu’s death.
Both Shik6o and Otsuyu included Chiyo’s poems in several of their edited collections of
haiku, an indication of their great respect for her poetry.
When Chiyo was between the ages of thirty and forty, a succession of deaths occurred
in the Fukumasuya family: her parents, her older brother, and his wife all died. Chiyo was
left alone to carry on the family business. During this ten-year period she wrote very few
haiku, apparently because of pressing business needs. Not until she was almost fifty years
old did she find time to compose poetry once again, after she became free of her familial
responsibilities by adopting a married couple as the successors to her household.’ After

5)
 arranging that the Fukumasuya family business would be carried on by her adopted
the
children, Chiyo became ordained as a Buddhist nun in 1754.8 At this time she added
suffix ni (nun) to her name and became known as Chiyo-ni (Nun Chiyo).? On the day of
her tonsure, Chiyo wrote that she was not seeking to denounce this wretched world, but
instead she was searching for a new way “to enhance my heart to take after pure water
which flows day and night.”!° Chiyo commemorated the occasion with a haiku:
Kami o yuu Not coiffuring my hair
Te no hima akete Will leave my hands free
Kotatsu kana To spend my time at the-kotatsu."'
A kotatsu is a type of footwarmer; the haiku suggests that Chiyo felt she would now have
time to relax and to compose haiku. She did not live in a temple as did conventional nuns,
but instead stayed at Fukumasuya. Becoming a nun gave her a certain amount of freedom—
with a heart as free as flowing water she would not be hindered or disturbed by worldly
cares.
Her status as a nun gave her another advantage-the privilege to travel and to fraternize
with other poets. During the Edo period, women of the samurai and merchant classes were
subject to a strict Confucian code of conduct promulgated by the military government.
Women’s main sphere of activity was restricted to their homes, where they were required to
obey the male members of their families. To freely associate with outsiders, especially
males, was socially taboo. Buddhist nuns, however, were not bound to these restrictive
social codes, and because of their religious status they were granted a measure of respect.!?
Many haiku poets now came to visit Chiyo, and she took several trips to seek kindred
souls. Her acquaintance with two female poets is noteworthy. One of them was Shisen,
who lived in Kanazawa. During one visit Chiyo and Shisen composed two sets of thirty-six
linked verses. Shisen wrote in the foreword that the verses were made “when Chiyo, a
friend who plies her pole in the same stream [of haiku writing as mine] came to visit.”!%
The poems were dedicated to the temple Gyozenji in Matsuto.
Chiyo also enjoyed a close association with another female poet who lived in her
hometown of Matsuto, Suye of the Aikawaya household. Suye, who was sixteen years
younger than Chiyo, respected Chiyo as her haiku teacher. They frequently exchanged
haiku as well as letters, and Suye was also Chiyo’s traveling companion on several journeys.
Their friendship continued until Chiyo’s death, after which the Aikawaya family built a
memorial in Matsuto in her honor.
When Chiyo was fifty-eight, she went to Kyoto to attend a Buddhist ceremony held at
Higashi Honganji and then traveled to Nagoya to see the poet Yokoi Yayii (1702-1783) and
the painter Naito Toho (?-1788). During this visit, Chiyo wrote out two of her most famous
poems, one about morning glories and the other about one hundred gourds; Toho then
added paintings to her calligraphy. The morning glory haiku is perhaps the best-known of
Chiyo’s verses.
Asagao ni By morning glories
Tsurube torarete The well-dipper has been ensnared—
Moraimizu I will borrow water.
Many modern critics argue that the poem is too logical to be truly poetic, but despite these
criticisms the poem is widely admired and the name of Chiyo has come to be associated
with the morning glory.'* The delicate morning glory, with its tenacious vine and flowers
blossoming anew everyday, is a suitable emblem for Chiyo who dedicated most of her life
to crystalizing in words the fleeting beauties of nature.
The gourd poem had been composed while Chiyo visited the Zen temple Eiheiji in
Echizen (Fukui prefecture) when she was twenty-four. The abbot of the temple asked her to
write a haiku on the Buddhist theme “three worlds in one heart.”!5 Chiyo responded with
the following verse:
FHyakunari ya One hundred gourds—
Tsuru hitosuji no All from
Kokoro yori The heart of a single vine.

This haiku refers to the Buddhist understanding that there is no reality outside human
consciousness, and that the three worlds of unenlightened men spring from the human

56
 mind, just as a single vine produces a multiplicity of gourds of various shapes.!© It is
evident that this haiku was one of Chiyo’s favorites, since she wrote out this poem when she
visited Nagoya. Chiyo was also skilled at haiga, the combination of simplified painting and
haiku verse.'7 An example of her haiga taking as its theme the gourd poem follows.

17. Chiyo
Hut and Gourds
Hanging scroll, ink with light color on paper,
OS) J PR.5) Oi
Signature: Chiyo-ni
Seal: Chiyo
Private collection

In this scroll, Chiyo has written her haiku out in three

lines, creating a fluent diagonal movement from left to
right. The thickly brushed top and bottom columns
counterbalance the delicate middle column, creating a
subtle rhythm. The calligraphy is offset by the painting of
a hut at the lower left. The tip of the vine on the roof
extends as if to capture the last word of the flowing
calligraphy. Chiyo’s written signature and her seal
impressed in red at the end of the eaves repeat the dotted
pattern of the gourds. The painting is serene yet not static:
the graceful movement of the vine and the gentle bobbing
rhythm of the gourds swaying in the wind infuse the space
with vibrant nature.
In 1763, the monk-poet Mugaian Kihaku collected and
published a number of Chiyo’s poems in the Chiyo-ni
kushii (Collection of Nun Chiyo’s Verses). This edition
contained 546 haiku. At the time, Chiyo was sixty years
old; it was rather rare to have a collection of poems
published during a poet’s own lifetime, and therefore this
publication attests to the contemporary recognition of
Chiyo as a poet.!8 In the same year, another incident
which confirms her fame took place. She was
commissioned by the Maeda daimyo of Kaga to inscribe
twenty-one of her poems on six scrolls and fifteen fans
which were then included as gifts from the ruling
Tokugawa government to Korean envoys. Among these
poems, she included the haiku of one hundred gourds.
As she aged, Chiyo suffered from asthma and was
often bedridden, but despite her physical decline she
continued composing haiku. The following haiku alludes
to her days confined in a room as if in a hermitage.
Shigururu ya Late autumn drizzle—
Hitoma ni kino In one room, my yesterday
Kyo mo kure And today, too, have passed away.
 Chiyo died in the ninth month of the year 1775, at the 18. Chiyo
age of seventy-two.!9 In her last poem, her recollection Butterflies
that she had savored many of nature’s gifts, including the Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 100.5 x 26.7 cm.
pleasure of moon-viewing, led her to accept with serenity Signature: Chiyo-ni
her approaching death. Seal: Soen
Private collection
Tsuki mo mite I’ve also viewed the moon
Published: Rosenfield, The Japanese Courtier: Painting,
Ware wa kono yo o From this world
Kashiku kana Now I too shall wane. Calligraphy, and Poetry from the Fogg Art Museum, the
Philip Hofer Collection (Santa Barbara Museum of Art:
Several other haiku written in 1775 also seem to reveal
1980), 40 (no. 25); Rosenfield and Cranston, The Courtly
her awareness of impending death: Tradition in Japanese Art and Literature (Tokyo: KOodansha,
Cho wa yume no A butterfly wanders into 1973), 124.
Nagori wakeiru The remnant of dreams—
Hanano kana A field of flowers.
Shimizu suzushi Spring water is cool
Hotaru no kiete A firefly faded
Nani mo nashi And nothing remains.
Chdcho ya A butterfly
Chiyo was a butterfly chasing the fictional world of haiku. Onago no michino Ona maiden’s path—
She also resembled a firefly, flickering within the light of Ato ya saki Now behind, now in front.
creation for an instant, before becoming engulfed by the Chiyo’s graceful calligraphy moves effortlessly from
constant welling of time and vanishing without any regrets. the center to the right, and then to the left, as if to trace a
At the end of her days these two delicate insects became butterfly’s curving course of flight. In reality Chiyo may
vehicles for Chiyo’s reflection on her creative life. Chiyo have seen one butterfly escorting a girl. In the scroll,
seems to have been particularly fond of the butterfly, an however, she painted two butterflies to achieve spatial
image which accompanied her to her last days. harmony. The two insects seem to pay close attention to
Chécho ya A butterfly— the fluid lines of the calligraphy. In the first line, the
Nani o yume mite | What dream writing and the larger butterfly are so well integrated that it
Hanezukai Is making your wings flutter?
is difficult to discern which was put on the paper first. In
Mono hitotsu It did not utter a word
the lower right, Chiyo’s signature and seal alight on a
Iwade koché no And a little butterfly’s spring
Haru kurenu Has passed away. clump of fine grass as though they, too, were insects.
Chiyo’s attraction to butterflies indicates her preference
The subject of a butterfly’s dream commonly refers to the
for delicate objects; her status as a nun did not alter her
fourth-century B.C. Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu who
refined feminine sensitivity. She composed several haiku
dreamed he was a butterfly. When he awoke, he could not
which convey many of the manners and feelings
decide whether he was a man dreaming he was a butterfly,
entertained by women living at the time.
or a butterfly dreaming he was a man. However, in Chiyo’s
Nani kitemo Whatever robe she wears
poem the reference to the Chinese episode is not essential
Utsukushi naru She transforms to beauty
to understanding the poet’s imaginary assimilation into the Tsukimi kana The moon-viewing time.
butterfly’s tiny cosmos. Chiyo also created haiga inspired
Kaketaranu Perhaps these are not enough?
by the theme of butterflies. Onna-gokoro ya Her woman’s heart ponders
Doyoboshi On the summer airing day for clothes.
Tsukimi ni mo Even at moon-viewing
Kage hoshigaru ya Do they want to have shades?
Onago-tachi These modest women.
Mononui ya In sewing new clothes
Yume tatamikomu All her dreams are enfolded—
Shiwasu no yo The last night of the year.
Beni saita My lips I took care to rouge—
Kuchi mo wasururu I forget them
Shimizu kana At the bubbling water.
Because of the haiku’s economy of language, the subjects
of the poems are often open to interpretation; in the haiku
just quoted Chiyo could well be the heroine. The germinal
idea for this last haiku was conceived when Chiyo was
about twenty-five. She revised this poem several times and
wrote it in its present form sometime after she was sixty.
All of her poems about women reflect the sentiments of
women of her era, and Chiyo shared these emotions.

58
Women were sensitive to the charm of natural phenomena
and to their own beauty. They sought to find a tenuous
balance between their vanity which urged them to show off
their wealth, and their desire not to appear ostentatious.
They were demure and often shied away from the curious
eyes of others, yet their dreams unfolded quietly and richly
through the elements they employed in their daily tasks.
Just as Chiyo was responsive to the feminine awareness
of self and to the women’s sphere, she was also keenly
perceptive of the subtle inflections of each season. In early
spring, Chiyo discerned an extraordinarily minute change
on the branches of a tree:
Asa yu ni Each morn and eve
Shizuku no futoru. The dew swells
Ki no me kana On buds of trees.
In summer she discovered flowers capturing light:
U no hana wa White deutzia flowers
Hiomochinagara Are absorbing the light
Kumorikeri Even on a cloudy day.
She tried to find respite from the summer heat:
Suzukaze ya Cool breeze—
Tamoto ni shimete 1 will enclose it in my sleeves
Neiru made Till I fall asleep.
The approach of autumn is implied through a change in
touch:
Kaya no nami The waves of the mosquito net
Kao ni nururu ya Wet my face
Kesa no aki Autumn of this morn.
As autumn matures, drenching rain fills the air:
Oto soute Accompanying the rain
Ame ni shizumaru The sounds are quieting—
Kinuta kana The fulling block.
Winter is a bleak season, but Chiyo found many objects
which harbor life in spite of the algid air:
Fuyu-gare ya Winter withering,
Hitori botan no The peonies alone
Atatamari Embrace warmth.
Cha no hana ya The blossoms of tea bushes
Kono yligure o Are glowing, to halt
Sakinobashi This deepening dusk.
Fuku kaze no In the blowing wind
Hanare-banare ya _ All separated, separated
Fuyu-kodachi A clump of winter trees.
Except for the winter peonies and small white tea
blossoms, not many flowers bloom in the winter. Yet
Chiyo reveals an unexpected flower in the following work.

59
19. Chiyo characters suggestive of the bird’s tiny frame. The
Wren and Pestle signature “Chiyo” implies that the work dates from the
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 38.1 x 49.5 cm. time before she became a nun, and therefore the poem was
Signature: Chiyo written in Chiyo’s early or mid-career.
Seal: Chiyo Chiyo was a creative poet who spent her life finding
Mr. and Mrs. William Rushton Collection grace and charm in unassuming objects and illuminating
them with simple words. Because of her uncomplicated
expression and quiet praise of the immanent life force
shared by humans and other inhabitants in nature, Chiyo’s
haiku touch the hearts of many readers. After her death,
The bold line of the pestle which diagonally cuts her poetry remained popular. She was frequently included
across the surface of the painting is balanced by the in paintings depicting groups of famous haiku poets, and
calligraphy which is divided into two parts, below and toward the end of the Edo period, she appeared in
above the pestle. Chiyo’s poem reads: woodblock prints. Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806),
Surikogi ni On the pestle Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825), and Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Fuyu no hana saku ya A winter flower is blooming (1797-1861) included Chiyo in their series of prints
Misosazai But only a wren?2°
depicting famous women.?? In Kuniyoshi’s design of
As in all of Chiyo’s works, her use of space is masterly.?! Chiyo from his series Ken’yafujo kagami (Figure 5), the
The word hana (flower) appears above the wren which poetess is shown surrounded by morning glories recalling
seems to be singing homage to the word. The wren is her famous haiku.
aware that it is the point of brightness in Chiyo’s vision.
The last word, misosazai (wren), is written in small
5. Kuniyoshi, Chiyo
From the Ken’ ya fujo kagami
Museum of Fine Arts,
Springfield, Massachusetts:
The Raymond A. Bidwell
Collection, 60.D05.281

Kikusha (1753-1826)
Kikusha was a woman poet whose name literally means “hut of chrysanthemums.”?3
Unlike the summer’s morning glory, the chrysanthemum endures the winter frost, and this
poet differed from Chiyo both in temperament and in poetic expression.
Kikusha, in her youth called Tagami Michi, was born in 1753 in a samurai household at
Chofu in Nagato (Yamaguchi prefecture). She was the daughter of Tagami Yoshinaga and
his wife Tane. Yoshinaga was a poet of Chinese-style verse, and since Kikusha was an only
child until her brother was born when she was sixteen, she is believed to have received a
good education which included composition of poetry. She married into the Murata family
when she was sixteen, but her husband died eight years later. They did not have children,
and Kikusha soon went back to her parents’ home. It is not certain when Kikusha started
creating haiku, but in 1780 at the age of twenty-seven, she decided to travel to the Ou and
Tokai areas?4 to search for poetic inspiration, following the tradition of many poets in the
past, including Basho. At the beginning of her journey, she visited a temple in Hagi where
she became a nun of the Shin sect of Pure Land Buddhism, the same sect to which Chiyo
had belonged. Kikusha’s reasons for becoming a nun were similar to those of Chiyo: she
sought complete self-immersion in an artistic life, and readily abandoned worldly, mundane
interests. Kikusha revealed her attitude towards a journey she was planning in the following
haiku:
Tsuki o kasa ni Wearing the moon for a hat
Kite asobaya I will disport myself
Tabi no sora Under the sky on my journey.

6l
 Just as she declared in her poem, Kikusha spent the rest of her life traveling and pursuing
artistic activities.
After taking the tonsure, Kikusha went to Osaka and Kyoto, then visited the haiku poet
Choboin Sankyo (1726-1792) in Mino to ask for permission to become his pupil. Sankyo
accepted her with delight, and gave Kikusha the name Ichijian. After leaving Mino, she
continued on to Kaga to visit Chiyo’s home. Chiyo had passed away seven years earlier, but
Kikusha became acquainted with Chiyo’s adopted son, Hakuu. At his house Kikusha wrote
a poem with Chiyo’s graceful figure in mind:
Hana miseru To reveal the flower
Kokoro ni soyoge Of your heart
Natsu-kodachi Sway, you summer grove.
To this poem, Hakuu added the next two lines to commemorate Kikusha’s moonlike visit to
his humble house.?°
Yabureshi kaya ni To the tattered mosquito net
Utsuru tsukikage Shifts the light of the moon.
Kikusha’s journey then took her to the coast of northwest Japan. Although she enjoyed the
beautiful scenery, the venture was often arduous. One of her poems was composed while
she was lost in the mountains:
Yamanaka ya Amidst the deep mountains
Kasa ni ochibano On my hat
Oto bakari Only the sounds of falling leaves.
The poem portrays the treading of a lonely wayfarer, but Kikusha’s enjoyment of carefree
roving apparently outweighed the hardships of the journey.
When Kikusha reached Niigata during this trip, she studied calligraphy with a local
master named Gosho (Five Pines) who is believed to have influenced the development of her
strong and free brushwork. From the northern tip of the main island, she went across to the
Pacific Ocean side and finally reached Edo, where she stayed for three years. Her name
must have been known to the poets in the new capital, because she was invited to many
poetry meetings and tea gatherings. In 1784 she left Edo, taking the Tokaido (Eastern
Coastal Way) to return home. Before she reached Chofu, she stopped at Mino again.
There she formally learned the art of tea ceremony under Ito Munenaga, and was thereafter
frequently invited to attend many elegant tea parties.
When she at last joined her parents after an absence of five years, Kikusha expressed her
joy at the reunion which occurred at the start of a new year:
Tokete yuku Thawing and melting
Mono mina aoshi All are green
Haru no yuki In spring snow2°

Her stay at home, however, did not last very long, and after a year she left for the southern
part of Japan and visited the Kyusht and Kinki areas. After this journey, Kikusha set off
for Kyoto again in 1790 to participate in the centennial ceremony on the anniversary of
Basho’s death. After attending the ceremony, she visited the Obaku temple Manpukuji in
Uji, an area famous for its superb tea. Manpukuji was strongly influenced by Chinese
culture, and Kikusha commented “I felt as if I had been on Chinese land.” When she left
the temple, the contrast of the foreign elements with her native country must have touched
her deeply and she composed one of her best-known haiku:27
Sanmon o Leaving the mountain gate,
Izureba Nihon zo I found Japan, indeed—
Chatsumi-uta The song of the tea leaf pickers.

During this trip to Kyoto, Kikusha started composing waka poetry in addition to haiku.
One of her first waka was created when she visited Mount Yoshino, renowned for its masses
of cherry blossoms which had been extolled in poetry for centuries. It was summer when
Kikusha went to the mountain, and there were no traces left of the cherry blossoms.
Remembering that in BashO’s book, Oi no kobumi (Notes in a Straw Satchel, circa 1690),
the haiku master had expressed a poetic vision in which “anywhere a poet looks, there are
flowers,” Kikusha composed the following waka:

62
 Natsu kitemo Even though I’ve come in summer,
Hana ka to miete They appear like flowers
Yoshinoyama On Mount Yoshino;
Mine no aoba ni Over the green-leafed peak—
Kakaru shirakumo _ Draping white clouds.
She succeeded the waka with a haiku:
Natsuyama ni Above the summer mountain—
Kumo mite sumasu Satisfied by clouds
Yoshino kana Here at Yoshino.
The waka solemnly explains the logic behind the artistic composition, while the terse haiku
reveals the poet’s stance in a brief flash: the anticipated occasion of flower viewing is
supplanted by a complete absorption in the beauty of the clouds. The haiku presents a
casual connoisseur’s approach to the heavy traditional canon of beauty. Because of its fresh
and light quality, the haiku is more appealing than the waka.
In 1793 Kikusha revisited Edo, and at this time Kikuchi Togan taught her to play the
seven- stringed ch’in, an instrument traditionally beloved by Chinese poets and sages. She
left Edo the following year, and traveled along the Tokaido again. Along the road, she
composed haiku and sometimes accompanied them with paintings. The following haiga by
Kikusha made on a different trip recalls the poem and painting combinations she made
during this journey on the Tokaido.

63
20. Kikusha symbols. The pointed blades of grass direct the viewer’s
Spring Inspiration eyes to the left, where the calligraphy is executed in a
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 20 x 28.6 cm. spontaneous and graceful hand. The title and eloquent first
Signature: Kikusha line include weighty Chinese characters and are followed
Seals: Tagami Michi, Kikusha; Gishu by a lightly inked and somewhat angular second line that
Kato Shoshun Collection contrasts with the smooth and clear third line. The
structure of this work attests to Kikusha’s skillful blending
of poem and painting: the image and calligraphy form two
counterbalanced diagonal masses that suggest composure
Entitled Shunko or “Spring Inspiration,” the poem reads: and harmony.
Waraiau ya Smiling at each other One of the most famous barriers for regulating traffic
Ni no Motoyama to Motoyama with a red gate to and from Edo was established at Hakone on the
Sashimukai And I stand face to face?® Tokaido. When passing through this barrier, Kikusha
This haiku seems to commemorate Kikusha’s visit to chanted one of her most charming haiku which she
Motoyama, the site of a Shinto shrine, and it may have composed along the road.
been written during her journey to northern Japan when she Te ni nosete Placing it on my palm
visited Akita. The auspicious beginning of a new year is Seki no to koemu I will cross the barrier gate—
reflected in her haiku. The Japanese new year begins with Sumiregusa A wild violet.
spring, and during this holiday season people pay homage The gate, which was rigidly guarded by officials, was
at Shinto shrines. A red gate called torii marks the linked with the small purple flower by her poetic
entrance to these shrines. Kikusha used a soft thick brush imagination, thus mitigating human restrictions and
to paint the torii gate and pine tree, both propitious marking her passage with a humble and natural adornment.
 Kikusha sought almost avariciously to develop her In the third part of the Taorigiku, Kikusha described
talents, and when she was in Kyoto she furthered her her philosophy of life at age fifty-seven:
ch’in-playing skills by studying with a courtier, Lord It is said that a man less than one hundred years old has
Hiramatsu. Through the art of ch’in playing, Kikusha the worries of one thousand years. In contrast to this
must have come to be well-known in Kyoto’s high society. saying, I have the enjoyments of one thousand years.
In my life, entertainment is my trade and I entertain
A former minister invited her to his musical gatherings and
myself alike with those I know and with those whom I
gave her personal ch’in the name Ryisui (Flowing Water). do not know. I enjoy years spent in traveling and I also
Kikusha acquired more artistic associates on her enjoy returning home. I enjoy both criticism and praise.
second trip to Kyushu in 1796. At this time she befriended I have devoted myself to enjoyment and I hardly have
Confucian scholars and poets who wrote in the Chinese time to fold my fingers to count my age.*4
style, and consequently she began to compose poems in The previously discussed haiku in which she wears the
this manner as well. In contrast to waka, which utilizes moon as her hat appears at the beginning of part one in the
only Japanese words, haiku include words of Chinese Taorigiku. Kikusha’s youthful decision to journey under
origin. Kikusha’s talents seemed appropriate for haiku, the open sky expressed in this haiku, and the description of
and therefore the Chinese poetic style may have been easy her enjoyment of life quoted in the passage above, testify to
for her to master. In her late years she became increasingly her aim of living a life in which she could savor artistic
occupied with writing poems in the Chinese manner. diversions. Most of her poems reflect joy upon viewing a
In 1803 Kikusha was invited by Mori Baimon, the beautiful scene, meeting another individual of the same
daimyo of Nagato who was also a poet, to create a joint taste, or attending a memorable event. The only time
work of poetry and painting with Watarai Bunryusai,”9 a when sorrow visited this strong-willed poet seems to have
prominent painter. Lord Baimon was eager to associate been at the time of inevitable separation from people by
with Kikusha; on several occasions he sought her verses, death. Since she was an only daughter, she enjoyed her
and he also deigned to give her several of his own poems. parents’ love and attention; her father’s death left Kikusha
Just as Chiyo’s poetic achievements were recognized by the with a profound sense of loss. Many of her haiku are
authorities who selected her poetry as a gift to the Korean devoid of sentimentality and partially because of this, a
envoys, so, too, were Kikusha’s artistic endeavors sense of pathos is infrequent in her poetry. The poems
acknowledged by high society in her region when Baimon composed at her father’s death in the summer of 1807,
became interested in her poetry. however, are full of personal feelings. Her Chinese-style
Kikusha spent many years traveling until she died in poem mourns:
Chofu in 1826 at the age of seventy-three.° It is believed Human life is like the morning dew;
that she visited the Kyoto area seven times and Kyushu It yields to the wind and falls before my eyes.
Frail are the dewdrops on the morning glory
four times, in addition to numerous trips to neighboring
As drop by drop, they return to the spring of eternity.
areas. On each journey, she met poets and attended poetry
gatherings, musical performances, and tea ceremonies. Her haiku which follows this Chinese poem sighs at
One of her most memorable experiences occurred when evanescence:
she visited the temple Horyuji in Nara in 1812. She was Chirishi hito wa The life now perished—
allowed to play an ancient Chinese ch’in which was one of Kesa o kagiri no Limited as of this morn
Asagao ka To morning glory time.
the temple’s treasures. Kikusha played before the statue of
Prince Shotoku, who had founded the temple in 607, and The autumn of that year left her with a painful realization
she honored this happy occasion with a haiku: which pierced her total being:
Kaoru kaze ya A fragrant breeze Mi hitotsu no My body all alone
Morokoshi kakete Is blowing from China Aki ka to zo omou In this autumn, I feel—
Nana no o ni Over these seven strings. Ame no kure The dusk in rain.

It must have been indeed an unusual opportunity for a These pensive moments are, however, rather rare for
commoner to touch this precious instrument.3! This event Kikusha, and most of her poems reveal a positive
was obviously an unforgettable highlight in her life and acceptance of this world. In contrast to Chiyo, who seems
Kikusha concluded her published collection of poems, to have preferred to pose herself quietly before an object
Taorigiku (Handpicked Chrysanthemums), with this and to then observe it until she became assimilated into it,
experience. Printed in 1813 by the Kyoto publisher Kikusha was an individual of action who rigorously sought
Tachibana Jihei, the Taorigiku consists of four sections: the out the source of her interest. The following two works are
first part contains a travelogue with haiku that Kikusha representative of her life-view, symbolized in the images of
composed during her first trip to the Ou and Tokai areas; flowers.
the second part includes haiku and paintings of some of the
Tokaido’s fifty-three stations made during her 1793
journey; the third and fourth parts consist of Chinese
poems with related haiku.*

65
 e
e
a
e

21. Kikusha and flowers adds dignity to the work. Kikusha

Orchid accompanied her orchid with a haiku instead of a Chinese
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 29.3 x 46.7 cm. poem, creating a blend of Chinese and Japanese traditions
Signature: Kikusha that shows the broad range of this multifaceted artist. The
Seals: Kinshin; Tagami Michi, Kikusha; Gishu haiku reads:
Private collection Amari sakite While blooming too much
Kaori wasurezo Do not forget your fragrance
Ran no hana Orchid flowers.

The orchid, a symbol of modesty and purity to

Chinese scholars, is one of the celebrated “four gentlemen”
plants along with bamboo, plum, and chrysanthemum. It
became a common subject for scholar-amateur painters in
both China and Japan. Kikusha was fond of Chinese
poetry and must have felt a strong affinity with the orchid.
Her boundless inner energy is echoed in the vigorous
rhythm in the descending lines of writing as well as in the
orchid flowers and leaves. Expanding outward and
upward, the leaves actively extend out of the picture plane.
The blossoms have a thriving existence of their own,
imbued with such sprightly movement that they resemble
winged insects about to take flight. A comparison with
orchids by other artists (Cat. 45 and 78) reveals the vibrant
personal nature of Kikusha’s brushwork. Within the total
composition, the balanced spacing between the characters

66
22. Kikusha Having something which I believe in and enjoy even at the
Four Haiku end of the seasons:
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 24.8 x 56.7 cm. Tada tanomu My only creed—
Signature: Kikusha Takara no yama ya The mountain of treasure
Seals: Kinshin; Tagami Michi, Kikusha Mutsu no hana The six-petaled flowers of snow.
Shoka Collection Kikusha’s brushwork occupies the entire space with force
and vitality. At the beginning of each poem the brush was
dipped anew, and the strong ink tones create accents which
strengthen the total composition. Some of her lines
fluctuate dramatically in width, adding vigor to the
calligraphy. Her signature prefaced with the words “While
The four haiku included in this scroll appear at the end of traveling in Nagato” is also boldly written, attesting to the
part one in the Taorigiku. Each one refers to a season, confidence of the creator. From both the poems and the
starting with spring cherry blossoms, and each is prefaced calligraphy emerges the figure of the poetess who willfully
with a comment. directed her life beyond the narrow frame of activities
Spending my life wandering on the road while keeping only imposed on many women during an era of constrictive
the flowers of the four seasons in my thoughts:
feudalism.
Mukau kata ni On my way Both Chiyo and Kikusha pursued the beauty of flowers
Konjin wa nashi No spirit of ill fortune—
The clouds of flowers.
in each season, yet their poetic stance and consequently
Hana no kumo
their artistic products are quite different. Chiyo envisioned
Enjoying learning from common things:
a wren as a winter flower, and Kikusha took snow for
Suna ni hautemo Even creeping on the sand
winter blossoms. Chiyo’s view is modest and intuitive,
Hirugao no hana A bindweed
Sakinu Gives forth its flowers. while Kikusha’s vision is grand and cerebral. In spite of
Yesterday has passed and tomorrow is yet uncertain: the differences, however, both poets are similar in one
respect: they both achieved fame during their lifetimes
Kyo wa kyo ni Today, again, today
Saite medetashi Its new blossoms are felicitous through their intense devotion to art in a period when
Hanamukuge A rose of Sharon. freedom of expression was restricted for women.*4
 Notes
1. The procedure of linking the first three lines of a waka (with a 5-7-5 18. Chiyo also had another collection entitled Haikai matsu no koe
syllable pattern) by one poet, with two final lines by a different poet (with (Haikai: Voice of a Pine) published during her lifetime.
a syllable pattern of 7 and 7) developed into a new poetic form called 19. Chiyo’s original grave has disappeared; however, a stone memorial,
renga (linked verse). Renga was often created conjointly by a group of museum, and Chiyo-ni-do (Hall of Nun Chiyo) exist to commemorate her
poets. Hokku (the starting verse of 5-7-5 syllables) was usually composed at ShokOji, and there is another memorial tablet at Senkoji. Both temples
by the most prominent poet and this convention laid the groundwork for are in Kanazawa.
establishing the independent poetic form of haiku. Haiku is a modern 20. Translated by Stephen Addiss.
term for haikai, an abbreviation for a type of renga called haikai no renga 21, Nakamoto Jod6 comments that Chiyo’s masterful use of space must be
(comical linked verse). Bash6d’s haiku evolved out of this haikai no renga the result of her innate talent. See his Kaga no Chiyo kenkyit, 247.
form. For a detailed description of the development of linked verse, see 22. See Utamaro’s Kindai shichi saijo shika (Seven Talented Women
Howard S. Hibbett, “The Japanese Comic Linked Verse Tradition,” Poets of Modern Times), Toyokuni’s Kokon meifuden (Famous Women of
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 23 (1960-1961), 76-92; Earl Ancient and Modern Times), and Kuniyoshi’s Kenjo reppuden (Stories of
Miner, Japanese Linked Poetry (Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton Wise and Strong Women), Ken’ ya fujo kagami (Mirrors of Intelligent and
University Press, 1979). For haikai (haiku) and Basho, see: Harold G. Strong Women), and Kenjo hakkei (Eight Views of Intelligent Women).
Henderson, An Introduction to Haiku (New York: Doubleday Anchor 23. At first Kikusha chose a name with the same pronunciation but which
Books, 1958). means “wheel of chrysanthemums”; she changed the character
2. The proliferation of women in haiku circles is documented by such combination so that it meant “hut of chrysanthemums.”
books as the Kokin haikai jokasen (Women Haikai Poets of Modern and 24. These areas include northeast and central Japan.
Ancient Times) written and illustrated by Ihara Saikaku in 1682, and the 25. Utsuru (to shift) could also refer to Chiyo’s figure which had passed
Mikawa komachi published by one of Basho’s disciples in 1702 which away. The word utsuru is sometimes written with the Chinese character
included one hundred haiku by women. meaning “to reflect.”
3. Basho’s “ten disciples” are usually considered to include Enomoto 26. Translated by Akira Yamamoto.
Kikaku, Hattori Ransetsu, Morikawa Kyoroku, Mukai Kyorai, Kagami 27. In 1922 a stone memorial engraved with this poem was set up in front
Shiko, Naito Joso, Sugiyama Sanpt, Tachibana Hokushi, Shida Yaba, of Manpukuji.
and Ochi Etsujin. 28. I am indebted to Professor Kono Motoaki for his interpretation of this
4. Shiko seems to have been very egotistical and his boisterous acts of haiku.
self-advertisement were criticized by many of his contemporaries. He 29. Kikusha is believed to have studied painting under this master whose
was, nevertheless, successful in popularizing haiku in many local areas. fame at that time was said to be comparable to Tani Buncho (1763-1840).
5. Fukumasuya was the business name for the family scroll mounting 30. Kikusha’s grave is marked at two sites: one is at Tokuoji and the other
shop. Commoners did not have surnames and this is one of the reasons at Honkakuji, both temples in Chofu.
that Chiyo was known simply as Chiyo of Kaga. 31. A modem critic, Kawashima Tsuyu, attributes this incident to
6. Among the haiku poets who came after Basho, there were over three Kikusha’s ability to skillfully maneuver people for her own advantage.
hundred women active during the Edo period. See Yamamoto Zentaro, See Kawashima Tsuyu, Jory haijin, 205-206. She describes Kikusha as
“Tokugawa jidai no joryu haijin,” in Miwata Gendo, ed., Nihon josei a person seeking to become famous, who was successful at capturing the
bunka shi, vol. 2, 614. This number, however, is still much smaller than hearts of courtiers and celebrities.
that of male poets writing haiku during the Edo period. 32. Besides the Taorigiku, Kikusha had twenty-four other poetry
7. It has been a common practice in Japan to adopt a child or a married collections published.
couple into a family when there is danger that the family might become 33. Kikusha, Taorigiku in Kasei Tenpo haikai shi, vol. 16 of Koten
extinct. The adopted person then becomes an heir. The couple adopted haibungaku taikei, annotated by Miyata Masanobu and Suzuki Katsutada
by Chiyo were named Rokubei and Nao. Rokubei was a haiku poet who (Tokyo: Shieisha, 1971), 189.
wrote under the name of Hakuu. 34. I would like to express my deep appreciation to Theresa Mahoney for
8. Chiyo entered the Shin sect of Pure Land Buddhism. Founded by the the critical reading of this article.
monk Shinran (1173-1262), this sect taught that faith in Amida Buddha’s
doctrine of compassion was the vehicle for salvation.
9. Chiyo also adopted another Buddhist name, Soen, in 1755.
10. Yamanaka Rokuhiko, Chiyo-jo to Kikusha-ni, 14.
11. All of the translations in the text are by the author, except where
noted.
12. To trace the evolution of women in Japanese history, see Joy Paulson’s
“Evolution of the Feminine Ideal,” in Lebra, Paulson, and Powers, eds.,
Women in Changing Japan, 1-23.
13. Murakami Genzo, “Kaga no Chiyo,” in Sdga Tetsufu, ed., Zusetsu
Jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, vol. 7, 57.
14. There is another version of the haiku which has asagao ya (oh,
morning glory) instead of asagao ni (by a morning glory). This version
makes the captor of the well-dipper obscure, and thus lessens the
logicality of the poem.
15. The three worlds represent: |. the world of desire, whose inhabitants
have appetite and sexual desire; 2. the world of form, whose inhabitants
have neither appetite nor sexual desire; 3. the formless world, whose
inhabitants have no physical forms. All of these worlds are creations of
the human mind. See Japanese-English Buddhist Dictionary (Tokyo:
Daito Shuppansha, 1965), 252.
16. It is possible to speculate that Chiyo attached another meaning to the
haiku. She might have been comparing herself to the vine in the poem—a
single source generating a multiplicity of forms. According to this
interpretation, the gourds were not mere illusions but represented haiku,
the fruits of her artistic efforts.
17. It is said that Chiyo learned the Jimy6in school style of calligraphy
and that she also studied painting under Go Shunmei. Yamanaka, Chiyo-
jo to Kikusha-ni, 11. It is not clear how much the Jimydin school style
influenced her work, but her calligraphy appears to be much freer than
that of the traditional school. The extent of her formal study of painting
is also uncertain.

68
Chapter Five: Waka Poets in Kyoto

As previously noted, waka is a traditional form of Japanese poetry composed of thirty-

one syllables arranged in five lines of 5-7-5-7-7. Since it was the poetic form deemed most
suitable for women in the Edo period, far more women mastered the basic skills of writing
waka than any other form of verse. In the seventeenth century, recognized women waka
poets such as Ono Ozu and Ryonen Genso had been members of the elite samurai class
with aristocratic connections, for whom learning to compose waka was part of the basic
training for women (see chapter one). In the eighteenth century, however, literacy became
more widespread among other classes of society, and consequently more and more women
distinguished themselves in waka.! Women were especially encouraged to study waka by
some of the leading scholars involved in the kokugaku or “national learning” movement.
Kokugaku was the study of classical Japanese literature and ancient writings with the
aim of identifying quintessential Japanese cultural elements. It was promulgated by
scholars who felt that the classical literature of the past represented the true expression of
national sentiments. Kokugaku evolved as a reaction against the prevailing Confucian and
Buddhist education, with kokugaku scholars attempting to revive an ancient spirit that
predated the introduction of foreign influences. In many respects, kokugaku was
synonymous with Shinto studies, and the scholars associated with it promoted a national
revival of the indigenous Shinto religion.
Unlike Buddhist and Confucian texts which tended to view females as lowly creatures,
kokugaku scholars came to recognize women as being on equal terms with men. The
kokugaku scholar and poet Kamo no Mabuchi (1697-1769) was the leader in promoting
waka studies among women, for he is recorded as having forty female pupils.2, Mabuchi
and other scholars cited the importance of women in the founding of Japan; the imperial
line traced its ancestry back to the Sun Goddess Amaterasu, and in the Asuka and Nara
periods, half of the Japanese rulers were women. Mabuchi also praised the role of Japanese
women in the development of classical poetry and literature. Poems by women are included
in the eighth-century Man’ yoshi, and many aristocratic women of the Heian period were
celebrated for their poetry, diaries, and prose, the most famous being Murasaki Shikibu.
It was as part of a revival of past epochs of national glory that kokugaku scholars
reemphasized the role of women in the arts. In particular, there were a number of female
waka poets who flourished during the Horeki era (1751-1763).* Biographical material is
scarce, but there is enough information to sketch out the lives of some of these women.
Those who won the most popular acclaim did so because their talents were visible to the
public. One of the few professions in which intelligent women of the lower classes were
encouraged to display artistic skills was that of the courtesan. There were many levels of
courtesans; at the bottom were low-class prostitutes, but at the top were exceptionally
talented women often skilled in traditional poetry and painting.
Many courtesans were celebrated for the waka which they composed and shared with
favored customers. Collectors and connoisseurs sought out verses written by eminent
women of the “floating world,” and commonly had them mounted together in long
handscrolls. The artistry of courtesans was also represented in woodblock prints, which
frequently depict them writing out poems and occasionally painting. Torii Kiyonobu (died
1729) designed a famous print illustrating a courtesan painting a scene of willows along a
river bank while her patron watches with admiration (Figure 6). Among the most well-
known of the eighteenth-century Kyoto courtesans was Ohashi, who became famous both
for her waka and her paintings of plum blossoms. It was not only courtesans, however, who
became recognized for the artistic beauty of their waka. Kaji, Yuri, and Gyokuran, three
women who ran a teahouse in Kyoto, also became renowned for their skills in waka.
Women of nonaristocratic birth are credited with adding a new flavor to waka, which had
become somewhat stale in the hands of traditional court poets.

69
6. Kiyonobu, Courtesan Painter

Ohashi (active mid-eighteenth century)

Ohashi was one of the many Japanese women who were sold to brothels by families
having financial difficulties. Although she was the daughter of a well-to-do samurai serving
the Tokugawa shogunate in Edo, her life took a tragic turn when her father withdrew from
official service and became a ronin.4 Relieved of his hereditary post as well as his stipend
of 1,000 koku, he moved to Kyoto with his wife and Ohashi (then called Ritsu). Because
the family was poor, they were forced to sell their daughter to a brothel in the Shimabara
entertainment district. At this time she was given the name Ohashi.
Ohashi surpassed the other courtesans in intelligence as well as beauty. As the
daughter of a samurai, she had received training in poetry, music, and other feminine arts
such as tea ceremony and incense identification. She continued her study of waka in Kyoto
with a member of the Reizei school, and also became adept at painting. It is ironic that the
artistic talents Ohashi had begun to develop as a proper daughter of a samurai became the
foundation for her success as a courtesan. However, Ohashi was deeply humiliated at being
forced into such a lowly occupation. Her physical condition weakened and she became
very sick. Doctors were unable to determine the cause of her illness, and the medications
they prescribed were in vain. One day a visitor asked what was troubling her. She
responded by telling him of the unfortunate circumstances which had led to her becoming a
courtesan. He replied that her sickness was undoubtedly provoked by her unhappiness with
her present life, and that if she adopted the Buddhist path of severing attachments to this
world, she would be enlightened and thus cured. Ohashi determined to try to put into
practice what she had learned from her visitor, and diligently worked toward achieving an
enlightened state of mind. Her breakthrough occurred in the Enky6 era (1744-1747) during
a thunderstorm. Ohashi abhorred thunder and ordinarily would hide herself amidst bedding
and mosquito netting. This time she reflected upon her visitor’s words, and after calming
herself, she came out of hiding and sat quietly. Just then a huge clap of thunder shook the
house, and she reached a state of enlightenment. It was at this point that Ohashi decided to
give up her life in the “floating world” of pleasure and left the Shimabara. She sought out a
spiritual master, and in the spring of 1751 met the Zen monk Hakuin Ekaku (1685-1768) at
the home of the Yotsugi family in Kyoto. A major figure in revitalizing Zen Buddhism
during the Edo period, Hakuin had already attracted scores of followers from all walks of
life. His compassion for the less fortunate is well-documented, and he encouraged Ohashi
in her spiritual quest.
Ohashi did not fully immerse herself in Zen study at this point in her life; instead she
married the man-about-town Kurihara Isso. In some ways they were opposites, but they
were both interested in the arts and consequently led a simple, happy life together. Her
husband chanted music from No drama, while Ohashi read the Genji monogatari and

70
 cooked simultaneously. He was proficient in Chinese poetry, whereas she loved to compose
waka. Both continued to maintain an interest in Zen, and would go together to visit
Hakuin. Ohashi’s desire to study Zen intensified over time, and in her later years she
secured her husband’s permission to dissolve their marriage ties in order to become a nun.
It is unclear where Ohashi went to live, but presumably she went to study with Hakuin.
After becoming a nun, Ohashi adopted the name Erin, using the character E from her
teacher’s name Ekaku.
Ohashi’s story was so unusual that she was included in Ban Kokei’s (1733-1806) Kinsei
kijin den (Legends of Eccentrics of Recent Times, 1790). In addition to relating much of
the biographical information given above, the Kinsei kijin den records a later meeting
between Ohashi and Hakuin in Kyoto at the home of the priest Reizei Jakujo. Hakuin
recalled his earlier encounters with Ohashi and her husband, recounting Kurihara’s
profligate activities. He then reminisced about how Ohashi used to describe many of the
beautiful sights in Kyoto. In particular there was a place not far from Shogoin famous for
its view of the moon; the Kinsei kijin den includes an illustration of Ohashi after she had
shaved her head and become a nun, pausing amidst some rice paddies in order to catch a
glimpse of the full moon (Figure 7).
The extant poems and paintings by Ohashi seem to be products of her courtesan years
because they are all signed “Ohashi.” This was obviously the period in which she achieved
her greatest fame as an artist. It is likely that she continued to compose poems and to paint
once she had become a nun, but she was no longer in a profession where customers begged
for examples of her work. Poems by courtesans have long been admired and
enthusiastically collected in Japan, partly for their inherent beauty, but perhaps more
because of the “star” status of the artists themselves. Would that we had an example by
Ohashi created after her long years of Zen practice to compare with the elegant, refined
artworks of her courtesan days, but unfortunately there seem to be none.

Kaji (active early eighteenth century)

Like Ohashi, Kaji led such an interesting and unusual life that she, too, was included in
the Kinsei kijin den. Although Kaji spent her life operating a teahouse, her position was
not that of a courtesan. Her teahouse, called the Matsuya, was located near the southern

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From the Kinsei kijin den,
1790

71
 gate of Maruyama Park, not far from a popular Shinto shrine in Kyoto’s Gion district.*
From the illustration in the Kinsei kijin den we know that it was an open-air establishment,
serving tea to customers who sat on benches (Figure 8). Such teahouses were popular at
the time, and in fact can still be found in areas of Kyoto today. The factor which
distinguished the Matsuya from other teahouses was Kaji’s fame as a poetess.
Kaji’s birthplace is unknown, but some scholars speculate that she was the daughter of
a Kyoto poet.® She was given an extensive literary education, and in her youth loved to
read old stories. By age fourteen her skills in waka were recognized, and from that time
on, people flocked to the Matsuya in order to hear her recite poetry. Among her steady
customers over the years were famous poets and intellectuals, including Nakanoin
Michishige (1631-1710) and Reizei Tamemura (1712-1774) who reputedly were great
admirers of her waka.7 She did not restrict herself to conventional themes like other poets
of her age; instead she drew upon her own experiences. In addition to waka, Kaji also
composed haiku. In 1703, a samurai from Owari named Asahi Bunzaemon recorded his
visit to the Matsuya in his diary Omurdchaki, stating how impressed he was with Kaji’s
poetry and that her fame had spread to the Kanto (Edo) area of Japan.*®
In 1707, 120 of Kaji’s waka were collected by the Edo poet Ameishi (dates unknown)
and published in a three-volume book entitled the Kaji no ha (Paper Mulberry [Kaji]
Leaves, Cat. 26). This book, along with her later appearance in the Kinsei kijin den, served
to increase her popularity and to transmit the legacy of her work. A century after her
death, Kaji continued to be one of the most beloved of Kyoto women poets. The ukiyo-e
artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi included portraits of her in at least three series of prints he did
featuring famous women of the past.? His depiction of Kaji from the Kenjo reppuden series
shows her gorgeously attired, seated on an outside bench beneath a branch of blossoming
plum (Figure 9). Brush in hand and writing materials beside her, she contemplates the
verses it would be appropriate to inscribe on the folding fans to her left. Her fame
continues to the present day; Kaji is remembered each year in Kyoto’s festival “Jidai
Matsuri” held on October 22, where men and women dress up as famous personalities from
various eras of Japanese history and parade through the streets.!°
Because her poems were casually brushed for friends and favored customers, Kaji’s
works were treated as ephemera and extant examples are rare. The calligraphy in her few
remaining works displays vigor and flair, reflecting a self-assurance and boldness of spirit
that enabled Kaji both to manage a teahouse and to become respected in the Kyoto literary

8. Mikuma Katen, Matsuya

Teahouse
From the Kinsei kijin den,
1790

72.
———_——

9. Kuniyoshi, Kaji
From the Kenjo reppuden
Museum of Fine Arts,
Springfield, Massachusetts:
The Raymond A. Bidwell
Collection, 60.D05.330

world dominated by men. Despite the fact that many of her poems are about love, she
remained single throughout her life. She adopted a daughter named Yuri who became her
successor at the Matsuya.

Yuri (1694-1764)!

Yuri’s background is as enigmatic as her adoptive mother Kaji’s. She is believed to

have come from Edo, and her original family name may have been Kimura.!? Like Kaji,
Yuri was exceptionally gifted in waka. In 1727, 159 of her poems were published in a
volume entitled the Sayuri ba (Leaves from a Small Lily).!? Critics usually claim that Kaji
was the better poet of the two, yet Yuri certainly inherited her mother’s aptitude for waka.
Upon hearing of the story of Yuri’s life from the Kyoto monk Yamaoka Geppo
(1760-1839), the scholar-poet Rai San’ yo (1780-1832) wrote a biography of her, heralding
Yuri as a model for other women to follow.'* According to San’yo, Yuri was exceptionally
intelligent, and after she was adopted by Kaji she followed her mother’s example and began
to compose poems. Yuri spent her days serving tea to the customers who visited the
Matsuya, but whenever she had a moment of leisure, she would take out her brush, paper,
and inkstone and write verses inspired by the world around her. The courtier-poet Reizei
Tamemura took a special interest in Yuri and became an important mentor to her. She
would take her poems to him for criticism, whereupon he encouraged her and offered
instruction.
 Examples of Yuri’s calligraphy are almost as rare as those by Kaji. She, too, wrote out
verses to give to poet-friends, and undoubtedly complied with requests from Matsuya
customers. In spite of the close connection between these two women, their calligraphic as
well as literary styles are distinctly different. Yuri’s writing is smooth and flowing, in
contrast to Kaji’s which is full of dramatic flourishes. Whereas Kaji’s poetry seems to brim
over with her own feelings, Yuri most often took nature as her subject.
Yuri was apparently a striking beauty like Kaji, and young men from wealthy and
distinguished families in Kyoto were invariably attracted to her. However, Yuri fell in love
with a young samurai named Tokuyama, the son of a shogunal vassal from Edo. They lived
together happily for ten years and had a daughter whom they named Machi. When
Tokuyama was suddenly called back to Edo to assume the position of family leader, the
couple was devastated. He wanted to take Yuri and their daughter with him, but Yuri
declined, knowing that her humble social position would only cause friction with his family
and unhappiness for all involved. She remained in Kyoto, dedicating herself to running the
Matsuya, composing poetry, and bringing up her daughter Machi (who later came to be
called Gyokuran).

Machi (Ike Gyokuran) (1727 or 1728-1784)

Yuri reared her daughter with pride, frequently telling her, “Your father was a samurai.
You must respect yourself as a woman—never look down on yourself!”!> Machi received
instruction in waka from her mother,!© and may have begun to study painting around the
age of ten under Yanagisawa Kien (1706-1758).'7_ Kien was one of the first Japanese artists
to experiment with the Chinese literati painting tradition, which is called nanga or bunjinga

10. Mikuma Katen, Taiga and

Gyokuran
From the Kinsei kijin den,
1790,

74
in Japan (see chapter six). Kien may have patronized the Matsuya, whereupon Yuri
arranged for him to teach Machi. One of Kien’s artistic names was Gyokkei (Jade Cassia),
and he purportedly gave Machi the name Gyokuran,!8 by which she is most commonly
known.
Since Yuri wanted to insure that Gyokuran’s literary talents and artistic interests would
continue to be encouraged, she was judicious in selecting a proper mate. Exactly how
Taiga and Gyokuran got together is not clear, but most scholars believe that it was Yuri who
cultivated Taiga and persuaded him to marry her daughter around the year 1751.!9 Rai
San’yo referred to this as one of Yuri’s triumphs. At that time Taiga was living in the Gion
neighborhood, not far from the Matsuya. He purportedly could be found daily sitting on a
mat outside the gate of Sorinji temple, producing paintings and calligraphy as well as
carving seals for passers-by.2° All sources relate that Taiga and Gyokuran were the perfect
match. Both artistically gifted, they passed their time painting, practicing calligraphy,
composing poems, and making music together. Their eccentric behavior assured them a
chapter in the Kinsei kijin den, which includes a charming woodblock-printed illustration of
the couple (Figure 10) by Mikuma Katen (1730-1794). Taiga and Gyokuran are depicted
sitting in a room littered with paintings, calligraphy, brushes, and other writing equipment.
Oblivious to the clutter around them, they are smiling and playing music—Gyokuran the
koto and Taiga a miniature lute. Many delightful anecdotes about this unorthodox couple
have been passed down to us, including the accounts that they frequently wore each other’s
clothes, and that they enjoyed playing music in the nude. An overnight guest once reported
that unknowingly he was given the only futon (bedding); when he woke up the next
morning he was shocked to find Taiga rolled up in a rug and Gyokuran sleeping beneath
painting paper and silk.
Neither Taiga nor Gyokuran cared about money or material possessions. Gyokuran
paid little attention to clothing or makeup, and she did not shave her eyebrows as was
customary for married women. They lived near Gion in a ramshackle hut believed to have
been first owned by Yuri, and eked out a modest living by selling their paintings and
calligraphy.?! At first they painted lanterns for teahouses and tobacco pouches for geisha,
as well as fans for all occasions. Later, however, they both achieved recognition and began
receiving commissions for larger scale paintings. Although Gyokuran had learned to paint
before meeting Taiga, he quickly became the major influence upon the development of her
painting style.
Gyokuran, in return, gave Taiga advice in composing waka. They further sharpened
their skills in poetry by taking lessons from Reizei Tamemura. Although Gyokuran was
highly regarded as a poet, her waka skills were never refined to the point of rivaling her
mother or grandmother. Nevertheless, eighteen of her verses were included in the
compendium Ruidai wakana shi published in 1827,22 and nineteen in the small volume
Shirofuyo (White Mallow, 1910).27 Compared to the scarcity of extant works by Kaji or
Yuri, more original examples of Gyokuran’s waka remain, due to her fame as Taiga’s wife.
In comparison to the relatively freely brushed calligraphy by her grandmother and mother,
Gyokuran seems to have cultivated more control; consequently her writing has a polished
elegance. Gyokuran also differed from her mother and grandmother by pouring most of her
artistic energy into painting, which will be discussed more fully in the next chapter. Her
unique background led her to create a new variation upon the literati painting tradition,
combining Chinese-style subject matter with waka inscriptions.?4
Gyokuran inherited the Matsuya upon Yuri’s death in 1764. However, the teahouse had
passed its golden age, and when the writer Takizawa (Kyokutei) Bakin (1767-1848) visited
Kyoto in 1802, he noted that it had disappeared.*> Gyokuran may have suspected that the
Matsuya’s heritage would soon slip away when, in 1778, she commissioned a stone
monument to be erected in front of Sorinji dedicated to her mother and grandmother.
Carved into the stone were two waka, memorializing the artistic achievements of Kaji and
Yuri. Gyokuran outlived Taiga by eight years; although he provided for her by putting aside
paintings to be sold when she needed income, she also taught calligraphy to girls at a
terakoya. She and Taiga did not have any children, nor did Gyokuran have any outstanding
pupils, resulting in the termination of the legacy which Kaji had begun.
23. Ohashi (active mid-18th century) asymmetrical, diagonal division and subsequent contrast
Waka on Decorated Paper between the plain paper background and the area painted a
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 29.6 x 36.1 cm. sky blue.
Signature: Ohashi Ohashi positioned her poem beautifully; the lines of
Tokuriki Collection writing serve to bridge the division existing between the
upper blue field and the plain paper below. Heavily inked
strings of characters are deftly balanced against lighter
ones created when her brush began to run dry. By
Poems written out by famous courtesans have long beginning and ending her lines at irregular levels, Ohashi
been treasured by the Japanese, and are still sought by was continuing a classical style used for writing waka
collectors today. It is common to find long handscrolls known as chirashi gaki which literally means “scattered
containing poems by several generations of courtesans writing.” Her calligraphy dances beautifully along the
which have been gathered by connoisseurs and then dividing line from right to left, echoing the diagonal thrust
mounted together.26 This waka by Ohashi is especially of the design. Ohashi’s poem refers to the inevitable
notable because of the highly decorated paper which she parting between lovers at dawn, and the sadness which
wrote upon. The designs on the paper were partially hand- follows if the affair does not mature. She has created a
painted (probably by someone other than Ohashi); some charming variation on classic poems describing the anguish
motifs seem to have been created by the technique known of a couple upon hearing the first cry of an early morning
as fukizomi, where liquid pigment is blown through a small bird.
tube. Although recognizable plant and landscape images
make up the bulk of the decoration, the overall design is Kinuginu no On the morning after,
Wakare wa yume ni Let your parting
somewhat abstract because the motifs are confined within
Nariyuke to Be like a dream.
geometrical shapes simulating the patterns found on some Ukarishi tori no I cannot forget
textiles. A further boldness is achieved by the Ne koso wasurene The wretched cry of the bird.

76
24. Ohashi
Plum Blossoms
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 93 x 28.3 cm. th
Signature: Ohashi “ D
Private collection
Z
on

Ohashi was renowned in her day for her depictions of Pio

AMA

plum blossoms. This scroll is one of the rare remaining S*

examples of her painting, accompanied by a waka in the

upper left. aeantaes
LOS
Ume no hana The plum blossoms— “YS+o
|)
as
Tagasode fureshi On whose sleeves ; :
Nioi zo to Have they left their fragrance? €>
Haru ya mukashi no I would like to ask the moon
Tsuki ni tohabaya Of a springtime long ago.
The inspiration for this poem was undoubtedly an evening
stroll, probably in February or early March. Ohashi
wonders who in the past may have viewed the blossoming
plum trees she is now enjoying. Her painting is
complementary, composed of a plum tree and a full moon, “e
both only partially shown. The brushwork recalls the d
casual, simplified style of contemporary Kano artists in ag
their informal scrolls. The trunk was brushed with light
gray ink, showing “flying white” where the brush began to
run dry. For contrast, the smaller branch springing from
the trunk was crisply delineated with dark, black ink. One
slender twig extends upward to the left as though it were
pointing out the poem to the viewer. The moon, outlined
by thick bands of restrained ink wash, nestles between the
protruding branch and the trunk of the plum tree. Ohashi’s
calligraphy here is slightly different than in Cat. 23,
showing a little more angularity and tension, indicating
that it may have been done during another period of her
life.
3i
25. Kaji (active early 18th century) A literal interpretation of this poem is that Kaji was
Waiting for Spring Blossoms longing for spring and the chance to view cherry blossoms.
Shikishi mounted as a hanging scroll, Yet, knowing her penchant for love poems, one could also
ink on decorated paper, 17.1 x 15.9 cm. read between the lines and infer that Kaji was recalling a
Signature: Kaji past affair and yearning to fall in love again.
Shoka Collection Kaji’s calligraphy displays a frenetic energy, with lines
full of tremulous movement and characters colliding with
one another in wild abandon. She has exploited dramatic
variations in line thickness which give this piece a
Intellectuals and poets frequented the Matsuya teahouse theatrical brilliance. The vigor and personal flavor of her
operated by Kaji, and in response to requests from friends calligraphy is certainly indicative of the strong spirit which
and patrons, she would write out her verses for them to led Kaji to become one of the most widely recognized
take away as souvenirs. Very few actual works by Kaji are woman poets of the eighteenth century.
preserved,?’ although many of her poems were published
in the Kaji no ha (Cat. 26). Kaji wrote this waka on a
small square sheet known as a shikishi, which was dyed a
golden brown and decorated with flowering plants
delicately painted in gold. The motifs form an appropriate
background for Kaji’s verse which she titled “Waiting for
Spring Blossoms.”
Matsukoro wa As I wait,
Nado mubatama no Even in the darkness
Yume ni sae Of my dreams
Katano no mino no There are visions of the
Hana no omokage Cherry blossoms at Katano no mino.

78
26. Kaji no ha (Paper Mulberry [Kaji] Leaves), 1707
Woodblock-printed book, 22.2 x 14.1 cm.
Shoka Collection

Kaji’s talents were distinguished and made known to a

wider public by the publication of 120 of her waka in three
small volumes titled the Kaji no ha.*® The poems were
collected by the Edo poet Ameishi, who wrote the
introduction for the woodblock edition which was
published by Heian Shosha in Kyoto in 1707.79 The
volumes are interspersed with illustrations by Miyazaki
Yiuzen (died 1758), the originator of the resist dyeing
technique for cloth which came to be known as Yuzen
dyeing. Miyazaki’s designs for the Kaji no ha are
primarily nature scenes, although a few figures are also
included. The two pages illustrated here are typical ones,
with Kaji’s poems contained within the cloud motifs over
Miyazaki’s pictures below. His designs are simple and
linear, recalling in some respects the genre of poem-
paintings created by haiku masters (see chapter four).

79
27. Yuri (1694-1764) Yuri composed this waka for the court noble Reizei
Waka Dedicated to Reizei Tamemura Tamemura, who was both her friend and poetry teacher.
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 30.2 x 33.6 cm. She would visit him at the appropriate times of the year,
Signature: Yuri offering small gifts and asking him to critique her poems.
Shoka Collection Yuri prefaced this poem with a short dedication to
Tamemura.
For Reizei Tamemura: a poem offered with chimaki (rice
dumpling) wrapped in an arrowroot leaf
Yuri’s initial training in the arts of waka and calligraphy
undoubtedly came from Kaji. Inspired by her mentor- Ohokenaku Too humble a gift
Tamamakuzu no Is this jadelike arrowroot’s
mother, Yuri, too, developed a strong personality which is
Hanakazura Flower coronet—
apparent in both her writing and poetry. Yuri’s calligraphy Iku aki kakete Yet for how many autumns
is nevertheless quite different from her mother’s style. Tatematsurabaya Have I made this offering ??°
Whereas Kaji’s brushstrokes were assertive and agitated,
Yuri’s handling of the brush was more relaxed and her Her brushwork appears nonchalant, the lines thickening
writing more fluid. Furthermore, Yuri allowed more space and thinning as though they were ribbons fluttering in the
to flow in and around her characters, and she liked the breeze. Although lacking the fiery drama of her mother,
irregular effect achieved by chirashi gaki. Yuri also chose Yuri’s writing displays a strength of character and natural
to render the characters in simpler forms with fewer purity especially admired by traditional connoisseurs of
strokes. calligraphy.

80
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28. Ike Gyokuran (1727 or 1728-1784) Tatsutayama The autumn leaves

Nishiki to miyuru On Mount Tatsuta
Two Waka
Momiji ba no Looking like brocade
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 15.9 x 39.7 cm.
Itodo shigure ni Intensify their colors
Signature: Gyokuran Tro wa masuran In the autumn shower.
Shoka Collection
Just as Yuri’s writing differed considerably from Kaji’s
style, Gyokuran’s calligraphy is easily distinguished from
that of her mother. Gyokuran’s writing here and in many
Gyokuran never achieved the literary fame accorded to examples suggests Reizei Tamemura as a source of
her mother and grandmother, yet she was certainly a prolific influence.?! In particular, her characters have hints of
composer of waka. She was first tutored by Yuri, and then Tamemura’s manner of embellishing strokes with
later by the aristocratic poet Reizei Tamemura who had decorative flourishes and heavy accents. In comparison
befriended her mother. Here she has written out two waka with Yuri, Gyokuran’s characters seem to be more self-
inspired by the autumn foliage on Mount Tatsuta in Nara. contained and show fewer vertical extensions. However,
although Gyokuran’s brushwork may lack some of the
Tatsuta hime The Princess of Mount Tatsuta freedom present in Kaji and Yuri’s work, her writing has a
Iro 0 somenasu Dyes the colors
Ikushio ka Time after time formal beauty deriving from the predominantly curvilinear
Orihae miyuru Deepening their richness— brushstrokes and an overall stately rhythm.
Aki no momiji ba The autumn foliage.

8]
29. Ike Gyokuran three horizontal spits of land dense with pine trees, above
Landscape Fan with Waka which float three tiny boats. She painted the forms with
Folding fan mounted as a hanging scroll, great brevity, complementing her simple, flowing script
ink on mica paper, 17.6 x 44.8 cm. which reads:
Signature: Gyokuran
Akashigata On Akashi Bay
Seals: Shoft; Gyokuran
Koyoi no tsuki no This evening’s moon is now
Shoka Collection Kage kiyoku Glittering brightly—
Published: Kurt A. Gitter and Pat Fister, Japanese Fan Namiji harukeku Boats far out at sea
Paintings from Western Collections (New Orleans Museum Fune zo kogi yuku Are being rowed away.
of Art: 1985), no. 26; Poem Paintings (London: 1977), no.
ili. A balance is struck by the concentration of landscape
elements on the right and poem on the left, although in the
center of the fan Gyokuran’s calligraphy slightly overlaps
some pine trees. Just to the left of center is the character
Whereas Kaji and Yuri were solely poets, Gyokuran was for “moon”; from its placement above the pines it can be
a talented artist who frequently created simple paintings on read as a pictorial image, showing that the poem and
which she inscribed a verse.32, Gyokuran rarely added painting are inextricably woven together in terms of
poems to her larger paintings (see chapter six), but found content and design. Gyokuran’s impressionistic view of
smaller formats more intimately suited to this purpose. Akashi Bay at night is enhanced by her choice of paper
She was especially fond of fans, exemplified by this lovely treated with mica, which sparkles softly as though
evocation of Akashi Bay. Gyokuran limited her picture to illuminated by moonlight.

82
Notes
1. Many of the most famous women waka poets of the eighteenth century 25. In his Kiryo manroku. Nonomura, “Gion no sansai jo,” 63.
came out of the townsmen (chodnin) class rather than the court nobility or 26. Several such handscrolls are extant in Japan; the Spencer Collection at
upper-class samurai families. See Mori Keizo, “Tokugawa jidai no joryi the New York Public Library includes one example which has portraits of
kajin,” in Miwata Gendo, ed., Nihon josei bunka shi, vol. 2, 565-566, courtesans as well as their poems.
570. 27. One of the few published examples of Kaji’s calligraphy appears in
2. Mori Keizo, Kinsei jorya kajin no kenkyu, 2. Mori Keizo, Kinsei joryd kajin no kenkyi.
3. For a list of women waka poets of this period, see Mori, Kinsei jorya 28. The title of the book contains a play on Kaji’s name which is also the
kajin no kenkya, 12-13. Japanese name for the paper mulberry.
4. A masterless samurai. The best sources for biographical information 29. The poems in the Kaji no ha have been republished in modern books,
on Ohashi are Mori Oky6, Kinko zenrin sédan, 472-475, and Shimizu including Furutani, Edo jidai jorya bungaku zenshu, vol. 4, 61-101, and
(Fueoka) Hogan, Bijin Zen, 172-185. Unless otherwise noted, all of the Nagasawa, Nyonin waka taikei, 377-384.
information regarding Ohashi’s life was taken from these two books. 30. Translated by Stephen Addiss.
5. For further information in English regarding Kaji and her descendants, 31. Stephen Addiss was the first to make this connection. There are other
see Stephen Addiss, “The Three Women of Gion,” Women in the History examples of Gyokuran’s calligraphy which seem to follow the style of the
of Chinese and Japanese Painting. poet Kato Chikage (1735-1808). See Komatsu Shigemi, ed., Nihon
6. Fukui Kyiizo, Kinsei waka shi, 229. The sources utilized for most of shoseki taikan, vol. 22, no. 24.
the biographical information on Kaji and her descendants in this chapter 32. Gyokuran and Yuri sometimes combined their efforts, with Yuri
are: Fujita Tokutaro, “Gion no sansai jo,” Nihon jorya& bungaku hyoron; inscribing waka on her daughter’s paintings.
Nonomura Katsuhide, ““Gion no sansai jo,” Nihon jorya a shi; 33. Translated by Stephen Addiss.
Aida Hanji, Kinsei joryi bunjin den.
Tr: Nonomura Katsuhide gives the name of Nakanoin in his article “Gion
no sansai jo,” 56. Aida Hanji includes Reizei Tamemura in the Kinsei
Joryu bunjin den, 157.
8. Nonomura, “Gion no sansai jo.” This document was discovered by
Mori Senzo.
9. These series are: Jikken onna 6gi (Ten Fans of Wise Women, circa
1843); Ken’yu fujo kagami (Mirrors of Intelligent and Strong Women,
circa 1843); and Kenjo reppuden (Stories of Wise and Strong Women,
circa 1841-1842).
10. Kaji’s granddaughter Gyokuran is also included in this parade, but not
her adopted daughter Yuri.
11. Suzuki Susumu gives Yuri’s dates as 1694-1764 in his article “Taiga to
Gyokuran,” Kobijutsu, no. 44, 49, as does Mori Senzo in Mori Senzo
chosaku shu, vol. 3, 34. However, the biographical entries in the Jory
chosaku kaidai (p. 192), Nyonin waka taikei (p. 385), and Kinsei joryi
bunjin den (p. 160) all record that she died in 1757, giving no age.
12. Joshi Gakushtin, Jorya chosaku kaidai, 192.
13. The poems in this volume have been republished in Tadamura Hatsu,
ed., Gion sanjo waka sha; Furutani Chishin, ed., Edo jidai joryi
bungaku zenshi, vol. 4, 83-101; Nagasawa Mitsu, ed., Nyonin waka
taikei, 385-392.
14. Published in vol. 3 of the San’y6 iko. This biography has been
translated by Burton Watson and appears in his book Japanese Literature
in Chinese (New York: Columbia University Press, 1975), vol. 2, 162-167.
15. Quoted from Burton Watson, Japanese Literature in Chinese, 165.
16. Hitomi Shoka believes that she also may have studied with Nashinoki
Suketami, a pupil of the Reizei school. See his article “Gyokuran” in
Nanga kenkyii, vol. 2, nos. 9 and 10.
17. Suzuki Susumu, “Taiga to Gyokuran,” 38.
18. She first wrote Gyokuran with characters meaning “jade orchid,” but
later changed the second character to read “wave.”
19. The year of their marriage is uncertain, and there is some question as
to whether or not they actually had a formal ceremony. There is a letter
from Taiga mentioning Gyokuran which must date to the year 1752 or
earlier that is used to support the 1751 date. See Matsushita Hidemaro,
Ike Taiga, 77. Taiga’s mother died in 1752; scholars have suggested that
she may have been opposed to the marriage, hence Taiga’s decision to
wait. The fact that Gyokuran continued to use her surname Tokuyama,
and that Taiga and Gyokuran are buried in different locations, has led to
speculation that they may never have been officially married.
20. For a study of Taiga’s life, see Melinda Takeuchi, “Ike Taiga: A
Biographical Study,” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, vol. 43, no. |
(June 1983), 141-186.
21. The Heian jinbutsu shi (Who’s Who in Kyoto) lists separate addresses
for Taiga and Gyokuran in 1768, but Suzuki Susumu believes that one was
used as an atelier. See “Taiga to Gyokuran,” 40. In the 1775 edition of
the Heian jinbutsu shi, they are recorded as having the same address in
Gion.
22. This volume contains a collection of poetry by forty-five Reizei
pupils. Hitomi Shoka, “Taigado fujin Gyokuran Joshi,” 16.
23. Gyokuran’s verses from the Shirofuyo were republished in Tadamura,
Gion sanjo waka sha, and Nagasawa, Nyonin waka taikei, 102-103.
24. For further discussion of Gyokuran’s unique combinations of painting
and poetry, see Stephen Addiss, “The Three Women of Gion.”

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 Chapter six: Bunjin (Literati Artists)

By far the largest number of recognized and appreciated women painters in Japan
emerged from the bunjin world. Bunjin (pronounced wen-jen in Chinese) literally means
people who excel in literary works. The word originated in China where learning was
venerated, and for centuries intellectuals trained in philosophy and classical literature filled
the thousands of Chinese governmental posts. The ideal scholar was viewed as a
sophisticated, cultured person, and hence aspiring young men were expected to master
literati arts in their leisure time, especially poetry, painting, and calligraphy. The particular
style of painting developed by scholar-artists is termed wen-jen hua or literati painting. In
essence, this art form was created by scholar-amateurs who rejected “professionalism” and
sought to remove painting from its associations with mere crafts. Whereas academic artists
displayed representational fidelity and technical finesse, scholars emphasized personal
expression and stressed the kinship between painting and calligraphy. Literati tended to
limit themselves to certain subjects, with landscape being the dominant theme because it
reflected their yearning to rise above the vicissitudes of the human world and to achieve a
spiritual communion with nature.
Interest in the Chinese literati painting tradition was stimulated in Japan by the
Tokugawa government’s promotion of Confucianism, which led to the study of many facets
of Chinese culture including literature, painting, and calligraphy. However, because the
sociopolitical structure of Edo-period Japan was extremely different from that in China, the
literati concept was considerably broadened. Although theoretically bunjin were people
who emulated Chinese scholars by orienting their lives toward personal cultivation in many
arts, in Japan bunjin painters were those artists who rejected the academic style of the Kano
school and turned primarily to the Chinese literati painting tradition for inspiration. This
tradition became known in Japan as bunjinga (literati painting) or nanga (southern
painting).! Travel abroad was forbidden by the government, but Japanese artists learned to
paint in the Chinese literati style by studying examples from imported woodblock-printed
books and paintings, as well as by learning from the few Chinese painters who actually
visited Japan.* Introduced in the late seventeenth century, literati painting rapidly
progressed in Japan, and by the latter part of the eighteenth century it was beginning to
enjoy widespread popularity, reaching a broad segment of the urban and rural populations.
The earliest known female practitioners of bunjinga were active in the second half of
the eighteenth century, and they were primarily the wives, sisters, or daughters of well-
known bunjin artists. Most prominent were Ike Gyokuran (1727 or 1728-1784), KO Raikin
(active late eighteenth century), and Tani Kankan (1770-1799), all of whom were married to
artists working in the Chinese literati tradition. As for most women of the Edo period, their
husband’s occupation and his family’s social position were the major factors in determining
the direction of their lives. It might not seem unusual for these women to have become
intensely interested in Chinese art and culture like their husbands. However, women were
generally not encouraged to develop more than basic artistic skills. To spend their time
painting was considered sinful in an age when a feudalistic society expected them to devote
themselves to raising a family and managing a household. Thus, in order to mature as
artists, Gyokuran, Raikin, and Kankan had to overcome the restraints of tradition and
convention.
Women bunjin were aided by the fact that they lived and worked within small worlds of
creative and unconventional intellectuals, who did not always support the standards adopted
by the rest of Japanese society. Eccentric behavior seems to have been acceptable in certain
coteries of Japanese bunjin. One might even say that it was invited, using as evidence two
multivolume books that were published in the final decade of the eighteenth century. These
were entitled the Kinsei kijin den (Lives of Eccentrics of Recent Times) and its sequel, Zoku
kinsei kijin den; both provide biographical accounts of those men and women singled out as

84
“eccentrics.” This immortalization of nonconformist figures might seem paradoxical in an
age when Japanese society was beset by innumerable governmental regulations attempting
to control and conventionalize lifestyles, yet it was precisely these conditions that may have
incited so many Japanese to break free. There was also a Chinese precedent for eccentric
behavior among artists, since Chinese accounts are abundant with legends about literati
who clung to their individuality and unorthodox lifestyles. Japanese bunjin with creative
inclinations followed suit, striving to achieve the lofty and untrammeled manner of their
Chinese exemplars.
Gyokuran and Raikin had developed nominal skills in painting before getting married,
but all three women proceeded to learn from their artist-husbands. In these cases, their
husbands were atypical Japanese males with progressive attitudes. Not only did these men
lead extraordinary lives modeled after Chinese bunjin, but from biographical accounts we
learn that they were unusually affectionate, showing a devotion that went beyond mere
loyalty between wife and husband. They urged their wives to cultivate artistic talents in
much the same manner that they themselves did, perhaps realizing that by allowing their
wives to develop personally, in return the women brought more happiness and
companionship to the marriages. Nevertheless, the wives were not free to ignore traditional
family and household duties, and certainly did not enjoy the liberty of their husbands, who
traveled extensively. Kankan and Raikin both bore children, and they probably maintained
a more or less traditional lifestyle with the exception that they were encouraged to paint in
their free time.
Gyokuran was more offbeat in comparison, just as her husband Taiga’s eccentric
behavior stood out among other artists of the day. She and Taiga did not have children,
instead dedicating their lives to painting, composing poetry, and making music. It was
undoubtedly because Taiga was a free spirit himself that he permitted his wife to indulge in
her own artistic fantasties. He was such a strong personality among artistic circles that one
wonders if he did not also encourage the open-minded attitudes of other artists towards their
wives by setting a precedent with Gyokuran. Taiga’s artistically collegial relationship with
Gyokuran was widely publicized, and it may have inspired other men with artistic
inclinations to seek out lively, creative companions rather than meek, feudal wives.
From the extensive literature on the subject of bunjin, it is possible to reconstruct the
type of environment in which Gyokuran, Raikin, Kankan, and their husbands might have
lived. In general, Japanese bunjin were members of the samurai or townsmen classes.
Many of the men were Confucian scholars, working in official posts for the shogun or
daimyo. Others served as teachers, spending their days lecturing on the Chinese classics at
one of the many clan schools. Some, like Taiga, are more difficult to categorize, for
although they were men of arts and letters, they held no official position and were often
members of the townsmen class. Background or social status, however, did not matter to
these individuals, who were drawn together by their intense interest in Chinese literature,
art, and culture. Gathering primarily in Kyoto, Osaka, and Edo, they formed Chinese
language study groups, held meetings where they composed poetry and painted pictures,
and even organized exhibitions of Chinese art. It is not known to what extent their wives
were allowed to share in these gatherings. Women most likely did not participate,
particularly if they had families, yet Gyokuran, Raikin, and Kankan vicariously developed
an interest in the Chinese literati painting tradition which was then nurtured by their
husbands.
Theoretically bunjin artists painted for pleasure and self-expression more than as a
vocation. Nevertheless, many of them did earn a livelihood through selling their paintings.
We know that Gyokuran joined Taiga in producing works for sale, but we cannot be sure in
the cases of Raikin and Kankan. The artistic reputations of these women were so
intertwined with those of their husbands that one wonders whether these women would be
known today if it were not for their husbands’ fame. This does not reflect on the quality of
women’s art, nor is it intended to undermine their accomplishments, but is merely a result
of Japan’s long-standing male-dominated society. As was noted in chapter five, more of
Gyokuran’s works have been preserved, in comparison with her mother and grandmother,
primarily because she was the wife of Taiga. It was not until the nineteenth century that

85
 women came to be celebrated as artists in their own right and happily were no longer
obliged to ride on the coattails of their artist-husbands.

Ike Gyokuran (1727 or 1728-1784)

Gyokuran’s biography was given in chapter five, which emphasized her skills as a waka
poet. This chapter will focus on Gyokuran’s paintings in the Chinese literati manner,
consisting primarily of landscapes and “four gentlemen” (plum, bamboo, orchid, and
chrysanthemum) subjects. She is perhaps the most famous of the women bunjin artists,
achieving widespread recognition in her own day. Gyokuran was selected for inclusion in
lists of painters in the 1768, 1775, and 1782 issues of Heian jinbutsu shi (Who’s Who in
Kyoto), and was one of the few female painters singled out for praise by the important later
artist-critic Tanomura Chikuden (1777-1835).4 It is believed that her first training in
bunjinga may have come from Yanagisawa Kien. However, Taiga quickly became the major
influence upon the development of Gyokuran’s painting style following their betrothal
around 1750. Gyokuran’s mature work shows traits of Taiga’s style of his thirties, which is
not surprising given the fact that they were probably married when he was in his late
twenties. However, Gyokuran should not be viewed merely as an imitator of Taiga.
Although she employed similar compositional designs as well as Taigaesque motifs and
brush patterns, Gyokuran exercised her own imagination and created very personal
variations of her husband’s style. In particular, she had an eye for the fanciful, and
experimented with exaggerating certain spatial effects. She also cultivated her own style of
applying brushstrokes, resulting in paintings with rich textures resembling tapestry.
Another one of her deviations from the Chinese bunjin tradition was the frequent addition
of waka instead of Chinese poems. Taiga is usually given the credit for Japanizing the
Chinese literati tradition, but there are some examples of Gyokuran’s paintings which could
be considered even more evocative of an indigenous spirit.

Ko (Oshima) Raikin (active late eighteenth century)

Biographical material on Raikin is scarce; we do not even know her birth and death
dates.° Her family name was Okuda, and as a child she lived in Kyoto. In her youth she
served the Confucian scholar Ito Tosho (1728-1804);° Raikin showed herself to be quite
intelligent, and she became adept at Chinese poetry, calligraphy, and painting. She
especially loved to paint bird-and-flower subjects, and her brushwork was admired as pure
and elegant. While Raikin was in the service of the Ito family, she met the multitalented
scholar Ko Fuyo (1722-1784). The date is not recorded, but they were married sometime
before 1772.’ The marriage was not arranged, but was a love match.
An intimate friend of Ike Taiga, Fuy6, too, was progressive enough not to force
traditional roles on his wife. One must assume that Raikin knew Gyokuran, although no
specific meetings between the two women are recorded.8 Raikin developed her own style as
an artist, and she and Fuyo even collaborated on some works together.? Fuy6 was best
known for his seal engraving, but he also painted and wrote poetry in the Chinese literati
manner. Paintings by Raikin and Fuyo are rare, but extant works have shared stylistic
characteristics, especially in their landscapes. Along with Gyokuran, Raikin was included
in the list of artists in the 1782 issue of Heian jinbutsu shi. Her paintings feature
exquisitely detailed brushwork and formal compositional beauty.

Tani Kankan (1770-1799)

Kankan was the first wife of Tani Buncho (1763-1840), the most important bunjin
painter active in Edo in his day.!° She was born in Edo to a family having the surname of
Hayashi.'' At the age of sixteen (1785), Kankan became the wife of Buncho. Since
Buncho’s family were vassals to the second son of the eighth Tokugawa shogun, it can be
assumed that Kankan was from an upper-class samurai family as well.!2. Kankan is
described as having a retiring nature, but she was known to be talented and virtuous. She
studied painting with Buncho,'3 becoming skillful at landscapes and figures, as well as
birds and flowers. As in the case of Gyokuran, Kankan did not merely mimic the style of

86
Te Portrait of Kankan
From her tombstone at
Genkuji in Tokyo

her husband, but after mastering the basic techniques she created her own unique manner,
displaying preferences for certain types of compositions and brushstrokes. Her work
reflects the eclectic tendencies of her husband, however, and hence Kankan’s style is not as
immediately recognizable as that of Gyokuran.
Four years before Kankan died she became a devoted follower of Buddhism, and as part
of her discipline she painted an image of the bodhisattva Kannon every day. She produced
over one thousand Kannon paintings; it has been suggested that Kankan may have started
this practice upon discovering that she had contracted some incurable illness.'* Kankan
died in 1799 at the age of thirty.'5 Buncho, deeply saddened by his wife’s death, arranged
for a special memorial print to be issued, as well as erecting a separate monument next to
her grave the following year. On her gravestone he had engraved an image of a standing
woman which is presumed to have been taken from a portrait of Kankan that Buncho
himself painted (Figure 11). In this way he preserved the memory of his artistic young wife
not only for himself, but for future generations.
 30. Ike Gyokuran (1727 or 1728-1784)
Spring Landscape
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 112.1 x 48.6 cm.
Signature: Gyokuran
Seals: Gyoku, ran; Shofu
Asian Art Museum of San Francisco,
The Avery Brundage Collection
Published: Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, A Decade
of Collecting (1966-1976) (San Francisco, California: 1976),
no. 163.

This monumental landscape, with its fanciful

construction and whimsical spatial ambiguities, well
represents the imaginative spirit of Gyokuran. She usually
has been categorized as one of Taiga’s many followers, and
indeed her husband’s repertoire of styles and subjects
formed the foundation for Gyokuran’s painting. However,
in Gyokuran’s best works she displays a personal, often
dreamlike, vision that distinguishes them from Taiga.
Gyokuran and Taiga both loved to playfully manipulate
space in order to create bold designs, but Gyokuran tended
to dramatize certain features of Taiga’s work in her own
paintings, resulting in rather bizarre, fantastic fabrications
of the natural world.
This landscape is the product of one of Gyokuran’s
extravagant flights of fancy. It depicts a tiny coastal village
ringed in by strangely shaped rock forms and tall
mountains. The season is spring, with peach blossoms in
full bloom and hills rich in green foliage. The scene is
heavily peopled: fishermen can be seen out on the bay,
while figures on foot and on horseback perform their daily
chores. This type of subject was painted by many bunjin,
but Gyokuran’s rendition is strangely unsettling for a
number of reasons. She has employed a tilted ground
plane in an effort to suggest spatial recession, yet she
consistently negates space by her patterned arrangement of
forms and the use of bold lineament in defining them. The
broad path in the lower left foreground changes from solid
to void like an optical illusion, causing the viewer to
wonder about the safety of the two tiny travelers. Farther
up in the composition, rice paddies resembling moon
craters wiggle their way toward the village. The
relationship of the paddies to the land around them is
especially curious, for they appear more as holes in a
mountainside than as fields on level ground. One
presumes that Gyokuran was aware of the spatial
contradictions in such works, but that she sought to
achieve an otherworldly quality and enjoyed adding
elements of surprise.
Gyokuran’s brushwork, too, is distinctive; her areas of
repeated texture strokes describing the rocks and trees
resemble embroidery, due to the predominantly linear
strokes which she so regularly and meticulously applied.
Thus, although Gyokuran composed the landscape of

88
Taigaesque rock forms, trees, fields, and mountains, she
transformed the motifs and brush methods so that they
expressed her own vision. The box for this painting bears
an inscription by Taigado Teiryo, the fifth generation
follower of Taiga, who once wrote that there were no
women artists respected more than Gyokuran.!6

31. Ike Gyokuran

Peony, Bamboo, and Rock :
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 92.7 x 41.6 cm.
Signature: Gyokuran
Seal: Gyokuran
The Mary and Jackson Burke Collection

Few painters would dare to juxtapose eloquence with

raw vitality in the manner that Gyokuran does in her
paintings of certain plant subjects. Here she has presented
us with a startling bold and eccentric conception of a rather
standard subject—peony, bamboo, and rock. The jet black
brushwork defining the bamboo leaves and rocky
foreground immediately catches the eye. A large peony is
thrust into the center of the composition, playfully painted
with Gyokuran’s characteristic curvilinear strokes which
rhythmically undulate like billowing waves. The
appearance of a solitary peony is a bit strange, since the
flower grows on a bush rather than on a single stalk as
shown here. However, Gyokuran was not interested in
faithful renditions of nature, preferring a more abstract
arrangement of forms. This distortion of nature can also
be seen in her style of painting bamboo with plump,
triangular leaves.
The peony is set off by the application of a pale blue
wash around the flower; to help formally balance the
composition, Gyokuran also added the same color of wash
in the lower left foreground and in the sky directly
surrounding the bamboo. In comparison with the rather
graceful strokes describing the peony, the brushstrokes
outlining the rock are untamed. Gyokuran was clearly
influenced by Taiga, who loved to dazzle his viewers with
dynamic brushwork and boldly conceived forms. Yet
Taiga never depicted rocks quite as awkwardly flamboyant
as these, once again reflecting Gyokuran’s own creative
spirit at work.

89
 32. Ike Gyokuran
Chrysanthemums and Rock
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 104.1 x 28.6 cm.
Signature: Gyokuran
Seals: Gyokuran; Gion fu ryt
The Mary and Jackson Burke Collection

Chrysanthemums are among the “four gentlemen”

subjects favored by literati painters. By blooming late in
the autumn, they symbolize fortitude and resoluteness.
Chrysanthemums had also been the beloved flower of the
Chinese poet T’ao Yiian-ming, who gave up his official
position and retired to a life of simplicity and rustic
poverty. T’ao wrote about raising chrysanthemums in his
poems, and he served as inspiration for later literati who
aspired to lead lives close to nature.
Numerous paintings of chrysanthemums are extant by
Gyokuran as well as by Taiga, indicating that this subject
was one that they both fancied. In terms of basic style and
composition, Gyokuran seems to have followed her
husband’s lead; however, the Burke scroll displays many of
the same personal characteristics of Gyokuran noted in
Cat. 31. She has once again outlined the unusually shaped
rock with thick, forceful strokes. Ink wash is combined
with very dry strokes, evoking the rough, mottled texture
of an old, eroded rock. Alongside the rock, Gyokuran
added a chrysanthemum plant with three magnificent
flowers. Her brushwork is full of life, animating the forms
and expressing her own personal zeal. Gyokuran’s
preference for curvilinear shapes is evident in every
brushstroke; the lines defining the flower petals show the
refinement and joyful repetition that are the hallmarks of
her style. As in Cat. 31, Gyokuran has taken care to
formally balance her composition. Springing upward from
the right, the plant bends leftward over the centrally
positioned rock. In order to stabilize the composition and
to maintain a lively rhythm, Gyokuran slightly tilted the
two largest flowers so that they point in different
directions. The uppermost chrysanthemum echoes the
shape and direction of the one just below, offsetting the
massive bloom closest to the ground.

90
33. Ko Raikin (active late 18th century)
Two Birds
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 92.6 x 33.3 cm.
Signature: Raikin
Seals: Geijo kai hitsu; Raikin
Private collection

Raikin was best known for her paintings following the

Chinese decorative bird-and-flower tradition, which
became extremely popular in Japan during the eighteenth
and nineteenth centuries. This style was initially
introduced through imported paintings from China, but
more significantly through the activities of the Chinese
artist Shen Nan-p’in (active circa 1725-1780). Shen
accepted the invitation of a Nagasaki magistrate and came
to Japan in 1731 in order to propagate Sung and Yuan
painting styles. He stayed for two years, teaching eager
Japanese pupils what essentially was a late Ming tradition
rather than Sung or Yuan. The Japanese were highly
impressed with the vivid coloring and the fresh, lifelike
quality of Shen’s compositions. As a result of his visit, an
entire school devoted to this new Chinese bird-and-flower
tradition sprang up in Japan, where it was called the
Nagasaki school. From Nagasaki, the style quickly spread
throughout Japan where it attracted artists working in other
traditions. Because of its Chinese origins, it caught the
attention of Japanese bunjin artists; Raikin is one of many
who took up the Nagasaki style and achieved a high degree
of skill.
Her painting of two colorful birds perched on a rock
surrounded by peonies is typical of this genre. In
designing the composition, Raikin followed Nagasaki
school conventions and depicted a large, Chinese-style
rock thrusting upward diagonally from one corner. This
diagonal movement is carried further by a stalk of peony,
which makes a sweeping curve and points upward to the
right. The poses of the two birds respectively echo the
diagonal lines of movement to the left and right; a
subordinate oblique thrust downward, initiated by the red
bird, is continued by the peony extending into the lower
left corner.
Raikin focused a great deal of her attention on describing
the brilliant plumage of the birds. To make them appear
even more magnificent, she applied hair-fine lines of gold
paint over certain areas. The peonies, too, were done with
extraordinarily meticulous brushwork, and Raikin achieved
a naturalistic touch by carefully shading the leaves and
using a different tint of green to color their undersides.
Like other Japanese artists who experimented with this
Chinese style, Raikin was interested in recreating natural
textures and representing her subject in a manner faithful to
nature. Yet these desires were subordinated by a native
tendency to embolden the painting through simplification
of design and brushwork, so that the overall impression is
more overtly decorative than her Chinese predecessors.

9]
 34. Ko Raikin
Landscape with Fisherman
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 20.3 x 14.5 cm.
Signature: Raikin
Seal: Rai, kin
Published: Aimi, “K6 Fuyo to Raikin,” Nanga kenkyu,
no. 2:8-10, part 3, 8.
Marui Kenzabur6 Collection

Most of Raikin’s extant landscapes are small in size,

resembling album leaves. Because of their petiteness and
delicately rendered brushwork, her paintings have a
Sinophile, jewel-like nature distinguishing them from the
free, more boldly brushed paintings of fellow bunjin Taiga
and Gyokuran. Raikin’s paintings are rarely dated, so it is
impossible to establish any sort of chronological
development in her style. Biographies relate that before
meeting KO Fuy6 she was skilled in painting, especially
birds and flowers. Raikin’s landscape paintings on the
other hand, share many qualities with those by her
husband, leading to speculation that she learned that
particular subject from him, studied with him under the
same artist, or relied upon the same Chinese models. This
similitude between the work of husband and wife extends
to compositions, brushstroke methods, and strong use of
color. Raikin and Fuyo were not born with the inventive
genius of Taiga and Gyokuran, who quickly went beyond
their Sinophile models, Japanizing them in the process.
The former couple preferred instead to cultivate and
maintain a certain Chineseness in their paintings, resulting
in conservative works with a refined, quiet beauty.
This landscape is a gem among Raikin’s paintings. Our
attention is invariably drawn to the empty space at the left,
where a tiny figure peacefully fishes from his boat. In true
Chinese fashion, he is dwarfed by the surrounding
mountains and their thick, luxuriant growth. Raikin has
depicted the mountains with dry, ravelly texture strokes,
over which she has laid light washes of blue, green, and
peach color. One of her special skills lay in blending the
different colors together to create subtly rich hues,
resulting in a refreshing coolness indicative of the lush
scenery she portrays.

92
35. KO Raikin
Landscape . a gf» ¥ pe
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 131.2 x 55.1 cm. FLHBK,
Signature: Raikin 7 ; n 4B % &
Seals: Raikin; Geijo kai hitsu lis 2 2S S a
Private collection Bh ez: tt
me WAX x
4i¥%

This landscape is one of Raikin’s most ambitious works,

rendered on a larger scale than she ordinarily attempted.
The composition is a dramatic one, depicting a fishing boat
passing through a strait which separates the towering cliff
at the right from the sloping bank in the lower left.
Flowering trees reach out from both land masses,
intermingling with the variegated shades of verdant, spring
foliage. Although the seated figure in the boat, shown
playing the flute, adds an interesting genre element, the
focus is really on the powerful landscape forms which
embrace him. The trees and cliff are diagonally oriented,
imparting a sense of vigor to the composition. The
movement initiated by the two large trees thrusting upward
from the lower left is skillfully counterbalanced by the
angle of the cliff jutting across the water.
Despite the large size of this composition, Raikin’s
brushwork here shows her characteristic delicate linework
and tiny dotting. The mountain forms are built up with
sparingly applied thin, parallel strokes to represent the
uneven surfaces. Clusters of “pepper dots” enliven the
edges of the rocky forms. Raikin employed an almost
identical type of dotting for the foliage of the tree leaning
out over the boat. Her repertoire of brushstrokes was
somewhat limited, yet Raikin compensated by underlaying
and overlaying her lines and dots with skillfully blended
color washes, imparting a fertile richness to her rather
austere designs. Raikin’s refined and precise brushwork,
abundant use of color, and her use of archaic methods such
as the fishnet water patterns seen in this landscape,
culminate in creating the antique Chinese flavor she and
many other bunjin artists enjoyed.

93
 36. Tani Kankan (1770-1799)
Fishing in the Moonlight
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 80.6 x 31.8 cm.
Signature: Kankan
Seal: Suiran
Published: The Register of the Spencer Museum of Art,
vol. 5, no. 10 (1982), p. 113.
Spencer Museum of Art: Gift of the Richard and Patricia
Cotton Memorial Fund, 81.71

The majority of Kankan’s extant paintings are landscapes.

She learned how to paint from Buncho, and consequently
many of her works reflect his style of brushwork as well as
compositions. A few lingering Bunchoesque features are
still evident in this landscape, but Kankan transcended her
husband’s influence, creating a personalized view of nature
with brushwork expressive of her own spirit.
Her basic composition is a conventional one: trees leaning
inward from a foreground bank at the left, a river with a
fishing boat in the middleground, and distant mountains
beyond. Unlike Raikin in the previous work, Kankan has
depicted the figure and boat in relatively large scale in
comparison with the other landscape elements, making
them a prominent part of the overall compositional design.
To further accentuate this portion of the composition, she
applied light washes of pink, peach, and blue color to the
figure and objects in the boat, as well as to the bamboo and
rocks around them. Washes of pale color appear in other
areas of the painting, but not in such concentrated fashion.
What is unique to Kankan is that the figure out fishing
appears to be a woman, not one of the generic Chinese
figures usually employed by Japanese bunjin artists. The
woman’s hair is pulled back and secured in what looks like
a bun; the blue Aaori or jacket worn over her robe bulges in
the back where it overlays the heavy, padded obi (sash). It
is believed that certain Japanese painters communed with
nature by imagining themselves as inhabiting their
landscape paintings; such a practice may explain why
Kankan modified the traditional male figure type and
depicted a woman.
Moving away from the figure, we discover that the land
masses and river have been arranged along a zigzag line in
order to draw one back into the picture. In the distance,
our gaze is halted by a towering mountain peak rising out
of the mist, composed entirely of light gray wash. One of
the most striking features of the landscape is the freedom
and vitality of Kankan’s brushwork, especially the heavy,
wet strokes describing the twisted trees. She was clearly
influenced by Buncho’s work of the late 1780s and 1790s.
Unlike Buncho, however, Kankan paid little attention to
structuring the mountain and rock forms, preferring instead
to concentrate her energy on the trees and their foliage.
One old leafless tree looms over the fishing boat; above it,
echoing much the same angle, is another tree extending out
over the river. Kankan employed some of her blackest

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brushwork to describe the branches, highlighting them as
important elements in the painting. One of the most
outstanding features of this landscape is the balance
Kankan has skillfully maintained between the dramatic and
gentle elements of nature.

37. Tani Kankan

Kannon, 1795
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 135 x 30 cm.
Signature: Kankan -
Seal: Itsuka issan toka issui (five days to paint one mountain,
ten days to paint water)!
Private collection

Beginning in 1795, Kankan painted an image of

Kannon every day in order to demonstrate her devotion to
Buddhism. After her death, Buncho had the design of one
of these paintings engraved into wood, printed, and
distributed to friends and family as a kind of memorial.
This scroll, too, stands as a tribute to Kankan’s artistry and
Buncho’s dedication to his deceased wife.'® One of
Kankan’s paintings of Kannon, dated the eleventh day of
the twelfth month of 1795, is mounted at the bottom. The
bodhisattva, seated in a three-quarter view pose, was
simply depicted with thin lines of gray and black ink.!9
More precise brushwork was used to render the abbreviated
facial features, crown, and necklace. Although her
portrayal was limited in numbers of strokes, Kankan
captured a sense of the deity’s inner peace, something for
which she herself may have been striving.
Above the painting are mounted woodblock-printed
inscriptions composed by five of Buncho’s friends. From
top to bottom, right to left, the inscriptions are by: So
Rikunyo (1737-1803), Nakada Sando (dates unknown),”°
Kimura Kenkado (1736-1802), Hamada Kyodo (dates
unknown), and Nozawa Suiseki (1781-1841).2! In general,
the texts are commemorative in nature, praising Kankan’s
art and mourning her early death. Suiseki gives us the oa 3
most information, for he describes the events leading up to i -
the memorial print. After narrating a few brief facts about he “
Kankan’s biography, Suiseki wrote that Buncho was A } i]
extremely saddened by Kankan’s death. To console / By) s
himself, Buncho searched for an example of her painting af Pr.
and found a portrait of Kannon which she had done the day Oe 4
before she died. Full of admiration, Buncho decided to : am eae 4
have it made into a woodblock print, and Suiseki > ty —
undertook the*task of having it engraved. —
The uppermost inscription by Rikunyo bears a date—the

05
 seventh month of 1800-exactly one year after Kankan died.
It is likely that all of the other inscriptions were written
during the year after Kankan died, and that this collective
work was put together by Buncho’s friends and perhaps
presented to him on the first anniversary of Kankan’s
death.

Notes

1, Nanga is an abbreviation for “Southern school painting,” referring to Kankan’s death, which arrived in the form of a letter containing the
the Chinese scholar-artist Tung Ch’i-ch’ang’s (1555-1636) theory of the memorial woodblock print of Kankan’s last Kannon painting. His
Northern and Southern schools, in which the Southern school represents inscription is dated 1799.
the literati or scholar-amateurs. 21. Two of the authors had their inscriptions written out by professional
2. For more information on visiting Chinese painters, see Stephen Addiss, calligraphers. Rikunyo’s was done by Oe Sebi and Nakada Sando’s by
ed., Japanese Quest for a New Vision: The Impact of Visiting Chinese Morikawa Chikuso.
Painters, 1600-1900 (Lawrence, Kansas: Spencer Museum of Art, 1986).
3. Several women artists in this exhibition appearin these books,
including Sasaki Shogen, Kaji, Yuri, Gyokuran, Ohashi, and Chiyo.
4. In his Sanchujin jozetsu (Osaka, 1834), 2.
5. Most biographies of Raikin consist of one or two simple sentences.
The longest entry appears in the Kangakusha denki shusei written by
Chikurin Kan’ichi in the late Edo period. For this text, see Aimi Kou,
“Ko Fuyo to Raikin,” part 3, 10. This article is the best source of
information on Raikin.
6. Tosho was the eldest son of the distinguished scholar Ito Togai.
7. Fuyo’s grave inscription records that he had one daughter (age thirteen)
and one son (age six). If his daughter was thirteen when he died in 1784,
she must have been born in 1772. Therefore, he and Raikin must have
married by 1771.
8. Both women contributed designs to a woodblock-printed volume
entitled Kishunho (Noble Spring Fragrance) published in 1777 which
contains paintings and calligraphy by a host of artists. There is a copy of
this book in the New York Public Library; Raikin did a magnolia, and
Gyokuran a branch of plum.
9. In the Yabumoto Collection, Hyogo, there is a bird-and-flower painting
by Raikin with a poetic inscription by Fuyo. For an illustration, see
Kobayashi Tadashi, Bunjin no hana to tori (Kyoto: Fuji Art, 1979), no.
3).
10. Buncho was an eclectic painter with a tremendous range of styles and
techniques. Nevertheless, he is usually classified as a nanga or bunjin
artist.
11. The best source of information on Kankan’s life is an inscription on
her gravestone at Genkuji in the Asakusa district of Tokyo, which Mori
Senzo found recorded in the Akanuma sobo sosho. For the text, see Mori
Senz6 chosaku shi, vol. 3, 200-201. Kankan’s original surname
frequently appears in both seals and signatures reading “ Hayashi-shi
Kankan.”
12. Satake Eiryo says in his article “Buncho fujin Kankan Joshi” that
Kankan was the daughter of a shogunal vassal named Wada Tameuemon,
but this information is not verified.
13. Buncho was hailed as the great champion of painting teachers, having
more than two thousand pupils. His teaching mania obviously extended
to his home, for in addition to Kankan, he taught his two younger sisters,
Tani Shun’ei and Tani Koran, as well as a daughter named Yao by his
second wife.
14. Satake, 20.
15. During her fourteen-year marriage to Buncho, Kankan bore only one
child, a daughter. Buncho later had six children by his second wife.
16. Hitomi Shoka, “Taigado fujin Gyokuran Joshi,” 14.
17. Kankan’s seal bears the same legend appearing on seals of both the
visiting Chinese painter I Fukyu and Ike Taiga. See Addiss, Japanese
Quest for a New Vision, 17 and 29. The legend probably derives from a
couplet written by the Chinese eighth-century poet, Tu Fu, in a eulogy on
the painter Wang Tsai: “Ten days to paint one stream, five days to paint
one stone—an accomplished artist cannot be hurried.”
18. This scroll was studied many years ago by the noted Japanese scholar
Mori Senzo. See Mori Senzo chosaku sha, vol. 3, 300-301.
19. An almost identical Kannon, painted in the fifth month of 1796, is
published in Kanagawa Kenritsu Hakubutsukan, Edo ha no kaiga
(Yokohama: Kanagawa Ken Bunkazai Kyokai, 1979), no. 4.
20. The husband of Buncho’s sister Shun’ei. Sando wrote that he was
sojourning in the Kansai area when he received the announcement of

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 Nineteenth-Century Women Artists
Chapter Seven: Late Edo-period Bunyjin

As noted, the largest percentage of women artists in Japan were practitioners of the
Chinese literati painting tradition known as bunjinga or nanga. In the previous essay, Ike
Gyokuran, Ko Raikin, and Tani Kankan were discussed as the eighteenth-century
forerunners. The nineteenth century saw a dramatic increase in the number of women
bunjin, and active female members were not uncommon in the major artistic and literary
circles. This chapter will focus on five representative women bunjin of the late Edo period:
Tachihara Shunsa (1814-1855), Ema Saiko (1787-1861), Yoshida Shiran (1797-1866), Cho
Koran (1804-1879), and Tokai Okon (1816-1888).
One of the primary reasons for the increase in the number of female bunjin was that
many scholars encouraged talented women to join their ranks. Their motivation in this
regard was stimulated by Chinese precedents: the Ch’ing-dynasty poet Yuan Mei (Sui-yiian)
was known to have had many female pupils, and in 1796 he published their poetry in a
volume entitled Sui-yiian nii-ti-tzu hsiian (Selections from Sui-yiian’s Women Pupils). This
book was subsequently republished by the poet Okubo Shibutsu (1766-1837) in Japan!
where it had a catalytic effect on Japanese scholars of Chinese studies, who soon began to
cultivate women pupils. Women bunjin were so much in vogue that the poet-scholar
Kikuchi Gozan (1772-1855) included a section with biographical information on them in his
1807 Gozando shiwa. One of the most important leaders in this movement was Rai San’yo
(1780-1832), an extremely influential historian and scholar of Chinese-style prose and
poetry in early nineteenth-century Japan. San’yo in particular is well-known for promoting
his female proteges; four of the women artists included in this chapter received his
encouragement.
The growing number of women bunjin coincided with the rise in literacy among both
men and women. There would seem to be a definite correlation between the broadening
range of roles for women and the vast expansion of the educational system. Although
moral doctrines were still a large part of the standard education for women during the
nineteenth century, lifestyles were less rigidly defined than before and women gradually
came to enjoy more freedom. More young women attended schools, receiving a more
extensive education than had previously been the case.
What types of families were likely to send their daughters to school? What kind of
education did they receive? It seems that merchants were most inclined to spend money
educating their girls, since shopkeepers’ wives needed to read and write in order to mind
the family business.2, Doctors and samurai with good educations were also apt to send their
daughters to school or to provide for their education in another way. Of the five nineteenth-
century women bunjin included in this chapter, Ema Saiko, Yoshida Shtran, and Tokai
Okon were all daughters of physicians; Tachihara Shunsa and Cho Koran came from
samurai families. Koran is the only one for whom there is evidence that she formally
attended a school. The others most likely had private tutoring. In either case, the
education they received was the same. All went beyond merely learning to read the
Japanese kana syllabary and were tutored in Chinese studies, beginning with the Four
Books,* and moving on to the more recondite prose and poetry.
Prior to the introduction of Western learning, the Chinese language was considered the
road to serious scholarship in Japan: philosophy, ethics, and history were all written in
Chinese. So, too, were books on medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and the law. Children
were usually introduced to Chinese studies between the ages of eight and ten, whereupon
they learned passages in this difficult language through rote memorization. Koran once
astonished her teacher (who was also her husband) by memorizing an entire book of 494
Chinese T’ang-dynasty poems while he was away on a journey.

Q7
 Encouragement from family and friends was the crucial factor in motivating women to
rise above what was ordinarily expected of them. The Japanese women bunjin in this
chapter were daughters or wives of artists or scholars, or had close personal connections
with important cultural figures such as Rai San’yo. Furthermore, Koran’s and Saiko’s
natural mothers both died when they were young, which may have led to their adopting
more independent, masculine lifestyles. Fathers served as role models, exemplified in this
touching poem by Saiko who emulated her father’s zeal for learning:
A Winter Night
My father deciphers and studies Dutch books;
His daughter reads Chinese poetry.
Divided by a single lamp,
We each follow our own course.
I read on without stopping,
But become tired, letting my mind wander to chestnuts and sweet potatoes,
Ashamed that I cannot attain the spirit
Of my eighty-year-old father whose eyes are not yet cloudy.°
Like their male colleagues, women bunjin became well-versed in Chinese poetry and
calligraphy, as well as in painting. Many were members of informal literary societies.
Saiko and Koran both belonged to a group called the Hakuosha (White Sea Gull Society)
which met monthly at a local temple in their hometown of Ogaki. Ten regular members
belonged to this group which was led by Koran’s husband Yanagawa Seigan (1789-1858).

12. Hakuosha (detail), 1822

Ema Shojiro Collection

98
At their meetings members would discuss cultural issues, compose poems, and paint for
one another, while enjoying the comraderie they shared with like-minded friends. A
portrait of the Hakudsha society survives which was painted in 1822 (Figure 12); in the
lower right is Saiko with Koran seated just behind her.
Societies like this one were plentiful in nineteenth-century Japan; Saiko and Koran were
also members of a diverse circle of poets and artists centering around Rai San’y6 in Kyoto
which included their female friend Shuran. Although Saiko was older than the other two,
these women had a great deal in common: they were all poet-artists who felt at ease in a
masculine society and who did not hesitate to work in a primarily masculine tradition.
Good friends, they often wrote poems and letters to each other, and occasionally they went
on pleasure trips together.
The subject matter painted by women bunjin was predominantly landscape and nature
studies of the “four gentlemen”’ (bamboo, plum, orchid, and chrysanthemum). This was in
keeping with the traditional Chinese models favored by Japanese literati artists. Saiko,
Koran, Shuran, and Shunsa each received instruction in painting and calligraphy from their
fathers, local priests, or artists in the circles they associated with. In many cases their
brushwork is strong and confident, far from the so-called “feminine”? manner which one
might expect. This is not surprising, since these women patterned their styles after works
by their male teachers. Japanese art historians are fond of using the term joseiteki or
“feminine” to describe the painting and calligraphy styles of women artists. This adjective
is often inappropriate, because the style in which these women painted is essentially no
different from that of their male counterparts. Of course, works by women artists exist in
which delicate brushwork prevails, but this is also true for works by contemporary male
painters such as Tanomura Chikuden and his followers.
Compared with most women of the day, the lives of these women were unconventional,
but it would be incorrect to view them as early advocates of women’s liberation in Japan.
We learn from Koran’s poems that she did not turn her back on the household chores
expected of a Japanese wife; in this respect she conformed to the traditional role of women.
Moreover, it is clear that she wholeheartedly embraced this domestic aspect of her life. As
she wrote in a poem when she was around thirty-nine:
I look for thread ends on the tattered silk of my torn winter clothes,
And add fallen leaves to the firewood which furnishes fuel for cooking lunch.
Do not laugh at my trifling mind inclined toward hard work and frugality—
What is the merit of being a wife besides this?°
Outside their immediate circle of friends, how were these extraordinary women looked
upon by their contemporaries? That they earned the respect of their peers is indicated by
the fact that the names of Koran, Saiko, Shuran, and Okon were listed alongside men in the
Heian jinbutsu shi (Who’s Who in Kyoto) in sections devoted to painters, poets,
calligraphers, and musicians.’ However, some men were still unable to accept women into
the scholarly world. For example, Koran was referred to as a “lewd woman” in the 1847
Tosei meika kidan, a book of parodies of well-known Kyoto Confucian scholars and poets.*®
This criticism was purportedly written by the bunjin artist Oda Kaisen (1785-1862), who
obviously held conservative views about the proper behavior of women; he was doubtless
uncomfortable with Koran’s active role in Kyoto bunjin circles. The following anecdote
suggests that even her husband Seigan sometimes felt embarrassed about being
accompanied by Koran.? According to one of his pupils, Seigan frequently accepted
invitations to visit a certain feudal lord. Because he could not bring himself to admit that
his wife had come with him, he left her in a waiting room. The lord’s attendants, believing
that Koran’s presence indicated a jealous nature, would tease her while she waited. One
time Seigan stayed inside very late; he had given a lecture after which he was purposely
detained by the ladies-in-waiting. When Koran learned of this, she became so upset that
she jumped into the garden well. Fortunately, the well was dry and she was not injured, but
the disturbance was brought to the attention of the lord, who said that he did not mind if
Koran visited him with Seigan. From that time on, Koran always accompanied Seigan, and
the lord came to recognize her literary merits as well.
From stories such as this, we can see that nineteenth-century women entered into the

99
 to
male bunjin world only with some difficulty and under certain conditions. They had
have a Chinese education, which was largely determined by family background . The
women who were accepted into the literati world were expected to maintain dual roles; that
of poet-artists and that of wives (if they were married) or daughters. Their situation was not
unlike the dilemma faced by many career women today; the women bunjin discussed here
seemed to have accepted the situation and performed both roles as required. Even then they
were not immune to criticism from those with old-fashioned attitudes. Life as a female
bunjin was thus not an easy one, and none of these women would have matured as artists or
poets without complete dedication. With the change of government in the succeeding era,
women were given more opportunities; the artists represented here are to be recognized for
blossoming early.

Tachihara Shunsa (1814-1855)

Shunsa was the eldest daughter of Tachihara Kyosho (1785-1840), a noted Confucian
scholar-artist from Mito (Ibaragi prefecture). She followed her father’s footsteps by learning
Chinese poetry, painting, and calligraphy from him. Around the age of fourteen or fifteen,
Shunsa is believed to have also begun studying painting with Watanabe Kazan
(1793-1841).!° Both bunjin artists exerted a strong influence on the development of her
painting style. Shunsa concentrated on bird-and-flower subjects, which she rendered in
precise, detailed brushwork. Ten years later, in 1839, Shunsa became a lady-in-waiting to
the wife!! of the Maeda daimyo who ruled Kaga fief (Ishikawa prefecture). This was one of
the highest-ranking positions that a daughter of a samurai family could obtain; Shunsa lived
and worked in the inner quarters of the Maeda castle. For reasons unknown she remained
single, diligently serving the Maeda family for the last fifteen years of her life.
Whether her death was the result of natural causes is open to question. Ohashi Bish
relates two different stories in which Shunsa tragically committed suicide.'2 According to
one, Shunsa was beautiful and talented, and thus gained the affection of her lord master.
She was so thrilled that she announced her love in a letter to her father. Kyosho was
indignant, for instead of refining her skills in the literary and military arts in true samurai
fashion, his daughter had become a warrior’s plaything. With his return letter to Shunsa, he
sent a short sword; Shunsa was so overcome by grief that she killed herself. In the second
story, when Shunsa went to serve in the castle, she outshone the other attendants, making
them jealous. One day some money disappeared from the master’s purse, and the servants
blamed it on Shunsa. When an investigation took place, the money was found in Shunsa’s
room. Even though she was innocent, she was so mortified that she committed suicide.
Neither of these two stories can be verified, and are not repeated in other articles discussing
Shunsa.

Ema Saik6 (1787-1861)

Saiko was the eldest daughter of Ema Ransai (1747-1838), a doctor of medicine and
avid scholar of both Confucianism and Rangaku (Dutch studies). They lived in the village
of Ogaki in Mino province (Gifu prefecture).'3 Both her mother and older brother died
when Saiko was only three, the same year in which her younger sister was born. Ransai
remarried soon after, but the early death of Saiko’s natural mother may have resulted in the
stronger than usual bond between father and daughter. The fact that Ransai no longer had a
son may also have caused him to lavish more attention on Saik6. Ransai taught her
Chinese, as well as the basic skills of calligraphy and painting. In the Ema Shojiro
Collection there is a painting done by Saiko at age five, and a calligraphy of a Chinese-style
poem which she wrote at age nine.'* When she reached the age of thirteen, Saiko became
a painting student of the Kyoto monk Gyokurin (1751-1814), who specialized in bamboo.
Because the Ema family no longer had a male heir, Ransai decided to adopt a son-in-
law. He first tried to arrange a marriage between Saik6 and a young man named ShOsai in
1804, but Saiko refused on the grounds that she was too deeply involved in her studies of
painting. Ransai then arranged for Shosai to marry Saik6’s younger sister. Three years
later Ransai retired and Shosai inherited Ransai’s position as doctor to the daimyo of Ogaki.
 In 1813, Rai San’yo paid a visit to the Ema household, an event that was to have a
major impact on Saiko’s life. As a distinguished poet and scholar, San’yo spent a great deal
of his time traveling around Japan meeting with other bunjin, including journeys to Mino to
visit the large number of scholars, poets, and artists who lived there. San’y6 had been
urged by one of his friends to meet Ransai, prompting this trip to Ogaki. Upon visiting the
Ema family, San’yo was charmed by Saiko’s beauty and talents, and he agreed to become
her teacher. In the following year (1814), San’yo informed Ransai of his wish to marry
Saiko, but Ransai refused. There are many tales regarding San’y6’s marriage proposal, but
the facts are not clear. Saiko was supposedly absent at the time this occurred. It is
generally believed that Ransai was oblivious to Saiko’s warm feelings for San’yo, and
rejected the proposal out of respect for her previously stated desire to devote her life to
artistic pursuits. Ransai was probably also aware of San’y6’s history of dissipation, and
may not have been eager to have his daughter marry a man of that character. Upon Saiko’s
return home, Ransai told her what had transpired and she was visibly shaken. When he
found out that she favored the marriage, he sent someone to Kyoto to negotiate with San’yo.
However, in the meantime San’yo had arranged through one of his friends to marry a
woman named Rie.
Distressed by the turn of events, Saiko never married. Many exaggerated stories have
been passed down over the years regarding her relationship with San’yo after his marriage
to Rie.!> The letters and poetry written by San’yo and Saiko to each other tell us that Saiko
remained one of his favorite pupils up until the time of his death. They carried on a spirited
correspondence, with Saiko sending San’yo poems she had written; in return he sent her
corrections.'© Beginning in 1814, Saiko traveled to Kyoto once every two or three years,
usually in the spring or autumn.!7 The length of her stays ranged from two weeks to one
month. The main purpose of her visits was to meet and study with San’yo, as well as to
view the lovely Kyoto scenery.
During these trips to Kyoto, Saiko frequently visited San’yo’s home, where she formed
a sisterly relationship with Rie. From the diary of San’yo’s mother Baishi, we know that
Saiko accompanied San’yo and members of his family on many journeys, and that on
several occasions she stayed overnight at his home. It is clear that they remained devoted to
one another, and that their relationship went beyond that of teacher and pupil. They had a
special friendship which blossomed over the years, and one could even surmise that a form
of love existed between the two. However, rumors that San’yo and Saiko carried on a
romantic affair after his marriage would seem to be unfounded. Saiko had been raised in a
very strict and proper family, and it is unlikely that she would act in such a way as to offend
the moral standards of her day. The fact that she was welcomed by San’yo’s family and
colleagues, and that she was frequently praised for her quiet, gentle, and virtuous nature,
suggests that she and San’yo were not lusting after one another in secluded inns as some
writers would lead us to believe.!®
San’yo introduced Saiko to many Kyoto bunjin, including Uragami Shunkin
(1779-1846),!9 Nakabayashi Chikuto (1776-1853), Okura Ryuzan (1785-1850) and his wife,
Yoshida Shuran, Koishi Teien (Genzui, 1784-1849), Unge (1783-1850), and Yamamoto
Baiitsu (1783-1856). Upon her first visit to Kyoto in 1814, the monk Unge composed the
following poem about Saiko.°
Presented to Saik6o Joshi from Mino while at a Teahouse:
This elegant, refined lady’s brush has the spirit of the wind.
A delicately scented fragrance is emitted from her green sleeves.
One flourish of ink results in bamboo on a round fan;
Untainted by cosmetics, she is unsurpassed.
San’yo made sure that Saiko was included in any bunjin gatherings that occurred while
she was visiting, and over the years she made many group excursions with other bunjin to
beauty spots all over Kyoto and Nara. San’yo urged her to consider moving to Kyoto, but
any hopes she might have entertained were dashed when her brother-in-law died in 1820, for
she then was expected to remain home and to help with the family.
In addition to studying Chinese poetry with San’yo, Saiko continued to refine her skills
in calligraphy. From 1814 on, San’yo sent her modelbooks filled with characters he had

lO]
 brushed which she would then copy. As a result of this practice, Saiko’s calligraphy shows
her teacher’s distinctive influence. Saik6 had initially studied painting with Gyokurin, but
through San’yo’s guidance she became a pupil of Uragami Shunkin around 1817. Saiko
continued to focus on the “four gentlemen” (especially bamboo), but expanded her
repertoire to include other bird-and-flower subjects as well. Her handling of the brush was
cool and crisp; this and the fact that she used ink, and only occasional pale colors, resulted
in images that have the lofty and austere qualities praised by bunjin. San’yo was proud of
the progress his pupil made, and took examples of Saiko’s painting with him when he
traveled in order to promote her talents. The following letter was written by San’yo to his
friend and patron Chikka.
I am sending you one ink bamboo painting by my female student, Saiko. Recently, you have
been careful not to spend money, and have not bought Ming paintings. Luckily this bamboo
painting has been mounted and I send it to you because I thought you might find pleasure in this
sort of painting as well... P.S.: I would like to add that, although this lady’s painting is famous, it
used to be of a vulgar kind, similar to the paintings by Gyokurin and that after becoming my
student, she corrected these vulgar aspects, so that now this painting looks like a genuine
Chinese painting by a Ming painter, with many of the Southern School characteristics: notice, for
example, the texture strokes in the rocks around the lower part of the painting.*!
San’y6 not only introduced Saik6 to fellow bunjin and patrons, but also spoke highly of
her to the visiting Chinese painter, Chiang Yiin-ko (J: Ko Unkaku, dates unknown), whom
San’yo had met in Nagasaki. Chiang sent a poem to Saiko in 1819, and thereafter through
the auspices of San’y6 they carried on a correspondence in which Chiang advised Saiko on
Chinese poetry.
In addition to making a name for herself in Kyoto, Saiko also became a major cultural
figure in her hometown of Ogaki. Around the year 1820, Yanagawa Seigan formed the
Hakudsha poetry society in Ogaki; Saiko was one of ten members who also included
Seigan’s wife, Koran. The following year, several of Saiko’s poems were published in the
Mino fiiga, a compilation of verses by bunjin living in the Mino area. San’yo, who was
actively involved in the publishing world, later tried to persuade Saiko to allow a collection
of her verses to be published. As fuel for his argument, he gave to Saiko a copy of the
Zuien jodaiko shisensen filled with poems by the women pupils of Yuan Mei. However, she
refused out of modesty.?2_ Nevertheless, some of her verses were published in collections of
other poets, and Saiko became so famous that traveling bunjin made a special point of
stopping in Ogaki to visit her.
The years 1831-1832 were unlucky for Saiko. Both her stepmother and Rai San’yo
died, and her father Ransai became quite ill. San’y6’s death must have been quite a blow to
the poetess. However, it did not dampen her enthusiasm for composing verse and painting.
She turned to San’yo’s pupil Goto Shoin (1797-1864) for instruction in poetry, periodically
visiting him in Osaka, and maintaining an active correspondence. Saik6 also continued to
journey to Kyoto with more or less the same frequency as before. During these trips, she
would visit with San’yo’s family and other Kyoto bunjin, participating in banquets and
excursions like those that had taken place when San’yo was still alive.23
_ Saiko’s father Ransai died in 1838, but due to the energies of Saik6 and other bunjin,
Ogaki continued to flourish as a cultural center. In the 1840s and 1850s she was a member
of two poetry societies there, the Reiki Ginsha and Kosaisha; she became the leader of the
latter group. The 1850s saw the rise of loyalist factions in Japan, which proposed that the
Tokugawa shogunate be overthrown and rule restored to the emperor. San’y6 had supported
this cause; his son, Rai Mikisaburo (1825-1859), and several other bunjin with whom Saiko
associated, such as Yanagawa Seigan and Kohara Tesshin (1817-1872), were avid loyalists.
From Saiko’s letters we know that she, too, was sympathetic to the loyalist movement, but
there is no evidence that she participated. She kept abreast of their activities through letters
from Ema Tenko (1825-1901), with whom she had formed a fast friendship. In 1856 Saiko
suffered a cerebral hemorrhage; although she recovered, she never fully regained her health.
In the same year, she began to receive the patronage of the wife of the Toda daimyo. Saik6
was invited to Ogaki Castle where she was given gifts in return for her paintings. She had
another stroke in 1861, however, and died in the ninth month at the age of seventy-five. One
of the first women bunjin to gain complete recognition in a male-dominated world, Saiko

102
owed her fame in part to Rai San’yo. Yet, fame did not fully satisfy her. Throughout her
life Saiko wrote poetry suggesting that she would have preferred a normal married life to
that of a spinster. The following poems were included in the Shému iko.
The peaceful night gets quieter and I am slow to go to bed.
Trimming the wick of the lamp, I leisurely read books written by women.
Why should it be the lot of talented women to end up like this?
Most of them in empty boudoirs, writing poems of sorrow.
(written in 1815)
To inscribe on my portrait (1831):
Lonely room, fiddling with a brush as the years go by;
One mistake in a lifetime; not the kind to be mended.
This chaste purity to rejoice in—what do I resemble?
A hidden orchid, a rare bamboo-sketch me in some cold form.24
By one mistake, I have no family to serve;
Aimlessly, I have indulged in writing amidst the rivers and lakes.?>
But I am shamed by your verse coming from far away
In which I am praised as the outstanding woman of the literary world.
(written in 1851)

Despite the melancholic nature of such poems, Saiko did not go through life as the
morose and grieving woman that some scholars have suggested. Much of her poetry is
bright-spirited, drawing heavily upon nature imagery through which she expressed her own
feelings. Although she supposedly tried to discourage the young women who idolized her
from imitating her lifestyle, she was proud of the accomplishments of her female
colleagues. Evidence for this is a handscroll owned by Saiko which contains paintings and
calligraphy by twenty-two women artists.2° Over the years, Saiko must have collected
examples from female artists whom she met. She then had the works mounted together in a
handscroll which stands as a rare testament to the artistry of women active in nineteenth-
century bunjin circles.

Yoshida Shuran (1797-1866)

In comparison with Saiko, far less is known about Shuran. The daughter of the Kyoto
doctor Yoshida Nangai, Sharan married the painter Okura Rytizan. Like Saiko, Sharan and
her husband studied poetry and calligraphy with Rai San’yo, and they were part of San’yo’s
immediate circle of bunjin friends. Shuran learned to paint from her husband’s teacher,
Nakabayashi Chikuto. Unlike Ryuzan, who painted primarily landscapes, Shuran seems to
have restricted her output to “four gentlemen” and other plant subjects rendered in
monochrome ink, being particularly skilled at painting orchids. She was among the most
multitalented of women bunjin, for she was also adept at playing the seven-stringed ch’in
which she had studied with Uragami Gyokudo (1745-1820), the most highly regarded
Japanese master of the instrument in his day.*?_ Shuran even learned Gyokudo’s
compositions based upon the ancient Japanese saibara music, rather than only the Chinese
pieces more often studied.?*
Shiran’s recognition in the arts began when she was around sixteen, for in that year she
was listed in the Heian jinbutsu shi. Thereafter, she appeared in almost every issue, often
in more than one category: 1822 (calligraphy, bunjinga, ch’ in); 1830 (calligraphy, bunjinga,
ch in); 1838 (bunjinga, ch’ in); 1852 (calligraphy, ch’ in).*9
There is no mention of children in any of the existing short biographies of Shuran. We
know that she and her husband regularly attended bunjin gatherings in Kyoto. Through
these events, she came to know Saiko and Koran. One spring, Koran met Shuran and went
to admire the cherry blossoms, afterwards composing a poem with the concluding couplet:
Last night the spring wind wove a brocade of flowers—
I welcome my female friend, and we celebrate by drinking sake
while viewing the blossoms.*°
Following bunjin tradition, these women even collaborated on paintings.*! Shuran was
especially close to Saiko; they had the shared experience of being pupils of San’ yo, who
nurtured their aspirations to excell in bunjin arts. Nothing is known of Shuran’s later years,
except that she died in 1866, sixteen years after her husband Ryuzan.

103
Cho (Yanagawa) Koran (1804-1879)

Koran, the daughter of a samurai, was born in the village of Sone in Mino province; as
a child she learned to read and write Chinese from her great-uncle who served as a priest at
the temple Kakeiji.32_ Her mother died when she was only thirteen, and a year later she was
permitted to enroll at a private village school, the Rikasonso (Pear Flower Villa) established
by Yanagawa Seigan. Three years later, at the age of seventeen, Koran married Seigan.
Her husband continued to play a significant role in fostering Koran’s studies in Chinese
poetry, literature, and painting. He was the central figure in the Hakudsha literary society
which met monthly in Ogaki.
Intrigued with the idea of meeting poets and scholars in other parts of Japan, Koran and
Seigan embarked in 1822 on a long journey west. They were encouraged by their friend
Rai San’yo who had returned from Kyushi a few years earlier. Traveling to the other end
of Japan was no easy undertaking; since they had little money, they went most of the way on
foot and enjoyed the hospitality of other scholars.7? Seigan was viewed by many as
eccentric because he took his young wife along with him; women traditionally remained at
home while their husbands traveled. They went as far as Nagasaki, sojourning in the
bustling port city for three months. There they became friends with a Chinese merchant
from Suchou, Chiang Yiin-ko, who was adept at painting and poetry. The opportunities to
visit directly with a Chinese painter, and to associate with Japanese bunjin artists from all
over Japan, stimulated KOran’s interest in painting; several of her earliest extant works date
from these years of travel. At this stage of her life she created primarily decorative
depictions of birds and flowers.
Koran and Seigan returned to their hometown in 1826, four years after their departure.
However, the long journey to Kyusht had whetted their appetite for a more intellectually
cosmopolitan lifestyle, and in the following year they went to live in Kyoto. Throughout
their lives they moved countless times, later living for some years in Edo and Hikone before
eventually returning to Kyoto. They seemed to have taken literally the advice of the
Chinese scholar-artist Tung Ch’i-ch’ang (1555-1636), who wrote that in order to be truly
cultivated, one should travel ten thousand miles and read ten thousand books.34 The couple
made a meager living through lectures, calligraphy and poetry lessons, and selling
paintings. Although Koran experienced difficulty at first, she gradually adapted to a
bohemian lifestyle, and as the years went on devoted more and more of her time to reading
and composing poetry, painting, and playing the Chinese seven-stringed ch’in.35
Koran received her first formal instruction in painting around the years 1827-1828 when
she became a student of Nakabayashi Chikuto in Kyoto. Under Chikut6’s direction she
learned to paint bird-and-flower subjects and landscapes in the Chinese manner. Eventually
she rejected the more decorative themes and turned wholeheartedly to the Chinese literati
tradition of ink monochrome painting. Koran gradually began to add poetic inscriptions to
her works, enhancing their bunjin spirit. She made rapid progress as a painter, and by 1830
she was listed with bunjinga artists in the Heian jinbutsu shi.3© Her talents were also
recognized in Edo during the thirteen years she and Seigan lived there (1832-1845). One of
her bamboo paintings was reproduced in the woodblock-printed book Hyaku meika gafu
(Album of Calligraphy and Paintings by One Hundred Artists, 1837). This was followed by
a collection of 130 of her poems entitled the Koran koshi printed in Edo in 1841.
Koran never bore any children, probably due to infertility rather than by choice. At age
forty she wrote a poem lamenting her life without children, indicating her compliance with
the customary role of women. Other poems tell us that Koran strove to conform to
tradition, despite the fact that she was known for her strong-minded and severe personality.
From the anecdotes that have been passed down, it is obvious that her relationship with
Seigan was not always a peaceful one. In Edo, they were unable to keep servants because
she was so difficult, and the couple argued endlessly. Once Seigan even threatened to send
Koran back home, but in the end they were inseparable.
While living in Edo, Koran and Seigan became involved in the heated politics of the
day, which centered around the question of opening the country versus an exclusionary
policy. Both harbored anti-shogunate sentiments and participated in the loyalist movement
to restore power to the emperor. After returning to Kyoto in 1846, Seigan acted as an elder
advisor to the patriots gathering there, and the Yanagawa home became a meeting place for
those seeking reform. In 1858 Seigan was implicated in a plot to assassinate a shogunal
official who had been sent to Kyoto to stamp out loyalist factions, but Seigan died of
cholera three days before government officals came to arrest him. The officials thereupon
took Koran captive. She was imprisoned in Kyoto for half a year, but refused to answer
questions regarding loyalist activities. While in jail, Koran allegedly chanted poetry and
painted on wooden boards. Upon her release, she moved back to her old home and opened
a private school for women, where she taught Chinese-style poetry. The women studying at
her school found it extremely arduous because Koran was so strict and demanding.
Normally, a widow would have gone to live with her children or family; it is significant that
Koran did not return to her hometown, instead choosing to live independently in Kyoto.
Koran remained active in Kyoto literary and artistic circles until her death at the age of
seventy-seven. From a collection of her poetry called the Kdran ik63’ we learn about the
people and places she visited and the activities in which she participated during the second
half of her life. She continued to associate with many of Seigan’s pupils, including Ema
Tenko, Okamoto Ko6seki (1811-1898), Ono Kozan (1814-1910), and Yamanaka Shinten’o
(1822-1885). In some ways Koran as a widow was even more prominent than before. While
her husband was alive she had remained somewhat in his shadow, but now she blossomed
artistically and the unwavering strength of her character manifested itself more freely in her
artworks. She became more prolific in painting, in part because she had no children to rely
upon and producing scrolls was one way to help support herself.3® Her unrelenting devotion
to the scholarly arts must have helped to overcome the hardships which she faced. She
continued to write poetry, with the subjects of her verses frequently drawn from nature. As
to the recognition accorded to her as a poet, the scholar Okazaki Shunseki observed that
although some people believed that Seigan had assisted her in writing, the poems Koran
composed after his death were in many ways superior to her earlier ones!3?

Tokai Okon (1816-1888)

Unlike the other women discussed in this chapter whose artistic talents evolved over
long years of practice and dedication, Okon was a child prodigy who reached the height of
her fame around the age of nine. She was born in a small mountain village in the Iwafune
district of Niigata prefecture.49 Her father was a physician and seems to have been the
major figure in promoting Okon’s studies. She was introduced to Chinese literature when
she was just a few years old, and it is said that she did not play like ordinary children,
instead spending her days and nights memorizing Chinese poetry and practicing
calligraphy. When Okon was five years old, she wrote out the name of a Shinto deity in
large characters: this calligraphy was presented to a shrine on Mount Takao. In 1822 Okon
was taken by her parents to Edo, where she further refined her brushwork by becoming a
pupil of the monk Dokuhon (died 1857).
Okon moved to Kyoto in 1825 with her parents, and her precocious brushwork quickly
captured the attention of several leading poets and scholars. A year later she was honored
by an invitation to appear at the imperial court. After writing out several examples of
calligraphy before an audience in the palace, Okon was personally presented with gifts by
the emperor—one of the highest honors in Japan. Rai San’yo took a special interest in the
unusually gifted girl, and in 1826 composed the following poem extolling Okon’s
brushwork and commemorating her visit to the imperial palace.*!

Okon is a genius at grass script;

Raising and waving her youthful hand she creates billowing ocean waves.
In her previous life she learned the secrets of a drunken priest;
She derived her style of flying ink from Huai-su.
Who named this lovely girl “Kon’’?4?
As expected, she grows wings and ascends to the gates of the immortals.
The energy in her brushwork is like that of wild horses.
The ink that she grinds in her inkstone leaves heavenly traces.

1OS
 She was surrounded by rows of court ladies,
Struggling to see her jadelike wrist as it swept thousands of troops away.
When she started to write she won the smile of the emperor—
Among the billowing clouds of colorful robes, a special being had appeared.
After her five fingers moved delicately like serpents,
A perfect jade cup was given to her by the emperor.
Inside the cup were painted sixteen yellow chrysanthemums;
This divine gift, white like frost, was her worthy reward.
When her young hand grasped the brush, she was filled with ecstasy;
The movement of her writing astonished everyone who was present.
After she finished she called out gently for more paper—
She completed her calligraphy with hands as fresh as springtime.
San’yo’s colleague, the Confucian scholar and poet Shinozaki Shochiku (1781-1851), in
turn wrote a prose verse about Okon which he presented to her family in 1827.43 Okon also
became acquainted with the scholar-official from Akita, Sukegawa Rokudo (dates
unknown), who also dedicated a poem to her.44 Okon’s brushwork so astonished the capital
that in 1830, at the age of fourteen, she was listed alongside other famous calligraphers in
the Heian jinbutsu shi.
Okon continued to travel to various places with her father who wanted to proclaim her
talents. However, he was warned by Shochiku that if he persisted in allowing Okon to
indulge herself in calligraphy, her chances of securing a good husband and living a normal
life would be ruined. When her father became ill in Osaka around 1831, Sukegawa Rokudo
came to Okon’s aid and helped to provide household expenses.
In 1832 Okon married a government official from Akita named Okamura Yoshichiro,
probably through the introduction of Rokudo or Shochiku. Okon then lived with her
husband’s family in Osaka and relinquished any hopes of an artistic career. That she still
continued to develop her artistic skills, however, is evident from a calligraphy handscroll
brushed forty-six years later in 1878 (Cat. 55). At this time in her life Okon was forced to
call upon her calligraphic skills in order to make a living. After the beginning of the Meiji
period in 1868, when the feudal government was abolished and her husband lost his official
position, Okon sold her calligraphy in order to help with the family finances. It is likely
that she continued to support herself by this means after her husband’s death. Nevertheless,
examples of her later work are exceedingly rare. The few pieces of Okon’s calligraphy
which survive are almost all from her childhood, when for a few years she was allowed to
blossom as an artist before withdrawing to the life of a proper Japanese wife.

106
38. Tachihara Shunsa (1814-1855) The clarity of compositional forms is also echoed in
Bamboo and Plum Shunsa’s brushwork: the slender lines defining the bamboo
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 22.2 x 15.4 cm. and plum are crisp and precise. She contributed to the
Signature: Tachihara-shi Shunsa purity of the design by using color sparingly. Shunsa
Seal: Koame (Shou) added white pigment to the budding plum blossoms, with
Private collection pale yellow dots representing the stamens. To the interior
of the bamboo leaves and stems she applied varied shades
of green color washes. Shunsa deliberately chose not to
fill in the outlined forms completely with color, in order to
Shunsa’s delicate brushwork was perfectly suited to the retain the feeling of openness. The overriding mood of
small format in which she frequently chose to paint. After cool austerity is appropriate to her bunjin subject
studying with both her father and Watanabe Kazan, she celebrating endurance and fortitude.
concentrated on depicting the “‘four gentlemen” as well as
bird-and-flower themes. Here she has created a simple yet
striking design featuring bamboo and plum. Branches of
both plants spring inward from the right, thrusting
diagonally into the lower left and upper right. Shunsa has
masterfully positioned the forms so that they
counterbalance one another. Although the painting itself is
small, through the liberal use of empty space she has
created a feeling of expansiveness.

107
 39. Tachihara Shunsa
-
1
Chrysanthemums and Rock
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 87.8 x 36.4 cm.
Signature: Tachihara-shi jo Shunsa shiga
Seals: undecipherable; Koame (Shou); Safu
Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan
Published: Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan, /baragi no meiho,
no. 108 (1985); Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan, Muromachi
suibokuga-Kinsei kaiga, no. 94 (1983); Kobijutsu, no. 61, p.
68; Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan, Mito no nanga, no. 128;
Kokka, no. 588, p. 353.

This painting is considered to be Shunsa’s masterpiece,

depicting large, pink chrysanthemums rising majestically
alongside an eroded Chinese rock. Chrysanthemums are
one of the “four gentlemen” and therefore represent
certain bunjin ideals (see Cat. 32). Shunsa’s version of this
subject is more elaborately painted and embodies more
color than some bunjinga. However, it is far from
ostentatious. The gentle lyricism of her brushwork and
subdued application of pale color washes imbue this
‘“‘sentleman’’ with the mild yet firm spirit long admired by
literati.
Shunsa’s predilection towards plant subjects was
abetted by the surge in interest in plant life by both the
intelligentsia and general public at this time. This was in
part a response to the earlier introduction of traditional
Chinese pharmacology called honzégaku which entailed a
precise study of the medicinal properties of animal,
vegetable, and mineral substances. During the late
eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, numerous
botanical studies were published in Japan, with new
varieties imported from abroad, and plant-viewing gardens
established. There is a letter stating that Shunsa received a
sample of a special species of flower along with some
notes from the honzdgaku scholar Sato Chiryo.45 The
interest in honzdgaku led many artists to specialize in
flowers and grasses, and in some cases inspired them to
practice methods of realistic depiction. .
Shunsa structured her compositions with great
sensitivity, compressing the painted motifs into limited
areas in order to control the lines of movement. Here the
main thrust is vertical, with a subordinate one leftward.
The growth of the chrysanthemums follows the movement
initiated by the shape of the rock. Shunsa left almost half
of the silk unpainted, creating the feeling of spaciousness
that she seems to have sought. The composition is
balanced asymmetrically, with the painted forms
consolidated in the right half offsetting the poetic
inscription at the left. In calligraphy recalling that of her
father, with slender, sharp lines tapering in thickness,
Shunsa wrote the following quatrain in Chinese characters:
In the pure wind and white dew floats a solitary fragrance.
Only the chrysanthemums can be seen on this cold evening,
Whereupon I recall the poetry of the ancients,
And in these surroundings forget all of my worldly ambitions.

108
 Shunsa undoubtedly learned her sophisticated coloring
techniques from Watanabe Kazan, whose naturalistic
manner of painting birds and flowers evolved from his
studies of Chinese and Western arts and sciences. Kazan
was adept at using variegated colored washes to represent
the three dimensionality of nature’s forms. The leaves and
flowers of Shunsa’s plants display a more patterned
arrangement than one finds in nature, but her use of
gradated color washes to suggest volume shows Kazan’s
influence. One of the most outstanding features of this
work is the striking juxtaposition of the soft, almost
nebulous brushwork describing the plant forms against the
bold, rough strokes outlining the rock, demonstrating
Shunsa’s genius at balance and contrast.

40. Tachihara Shunsa The composition is typical of Shunsa, with the main
Yellow Bird on a Branch branch entering from the lower right and extending
Folding fan, ink and colors on paper, 30 x 44 cm. diagonally to the left. A smaller twig shoots upward,
Signature: Shunsa-jo gisaku providing a perch for the yellow bird which is positioned so
Seal: Saren that its tail points obliquely to the upper right,
Spencer Museum of Art: Gift of Mr. and Mrs. William F counterbalancing the leftward diagonal thrust. The design
Bond in appreciation of Harry Packard, 85.314 is simple, yet works effectively within the fan shape. As
Published: The Register of the Spencer Museum ofArt, always, the painted forms are given more impact through
vol. 6, no. 3 (1986), p. 84.
the ample use of blank space around them.
Shunsa refrained from using ink outlines and employed
pale color washes to describe the forms. Slight changes in
Shunsa signed this fan “‘Playfully painted by Shunsa,”’ hue within the leaves hint at light and shade, but the hard-
and indeed it has a light-hearted touch not always apparent surfaced paper commonly used for folding fans did not
in her work. In particular, the brushwork displays a allow for her usual subtle gradations. Color was obviously
looseness and freedom quite different from the polished, of primary concern to her, judging from the rich range of
restrained nature of the previous two paintings. It is likely greens, browns, and blues found in the tree leaves. The
that Shunsa painted the design on this fan bright yellow of the bird’s feathers causes it to project
extemporaneously in response to a request from a friend or vividly from its resting place, inspiring the viewer to
patron. conjure up its spring melody.

109
41. Ema Saiko (1787-1861) As I reach fifty, I begin to understand the mistakes of the
Poem at Age Fifty
past.
As the years slowly pass, they have gone against my
Hanging scroll, ink on colored paper, 17.3 x 45.9 cm.
ambition.
Signature: Saiko
Cranes are tall, ducks short—it is not men who made them
Seals: Gosdga; Saiko koji thus.
Private collection Fish leap, hawks soar—all follow the course of nature.
My intentions have melted like the snow in springtime.
Old friends have vanished like stars in the morning
brightness.
In the end there is no use in Taoist practices for longevity—
Saiko refined her skills in calligraphy as well as in
I only love to paint bamboo, its greenness reflected on my
poetry and painting, studying from modelbooks prepared garment.
for her by Rai San’yo. Her writing shows the strong
One of the “‘mistakes’’ that Saiko refers to in her first
influence of her teacher, featuring smooth, rounded
line must be the early misunderstanding with Rai San’y6.
characters brushed with an even, stately rhythm. This
By this time he had been dead for four years and thus he is
poem, in the format of eight lines of seven characters each,
surely one of the old friends who Saik6 notes have
was written by Saiko in a form of running script at the age
“‘vanished.’’ Consequently this poem is one of her most
of fifty. The paper is pale blue with printed designs of fern
personal expressions within the scholarly calligraphic
shoots and other plants, and may well be a special Chinese
tradition.
paper which she received as a gift. Her richly inked poem
is autobiographical in nature: looking back over the first
half century of her life, Saiko expresses melancholic
feelings about the course her life has taken.

110
42. Ema Saiko
Bamboo and Rock, 1852
Hanging scroll, ink on satin, 132 x 58 cm. Mp
Signature: Saiko Fs Pb
Seals: Suiboku; Ejo j0jo; Saiko koshi % ¢t
Ema Sh6jiré Collection al 2 SF
Published: Tsubota, Nihon josei no rekishi, no. 6, p. 10; fefs.3
Soga, Zusetsu jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, vol. 7, p. 78; m3 # J.
Kado, Ema Saiko; Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan, Ogaki no t+ &
senken ten: Ransai to Saiko, p. 24. “sh“4zg
oa)
t+,

%
Saiko is most famous for her depictions of bamboo. She ay
aN

began her study of painting as a young child, and in her

early teens received lessons from Gyokurin, a Kyoto monk
who specialized in bamboo. Gyokurin died in 1814, and
under San’yo’s guidance, Saiko began to study painting
with Uragami Shunkin around 1817. She met with
Shunkin directly on her periodic visits to Kyoto; when she
was in Ogaki, she sent paintings to him and he returned
them with corrections marked in red coupled with long
explanations.*© According to San’y6, her style changed
dramatically under the direction of her new teacher,
becoming more refined and closer to Chinese bunjin
models.
Saiko never tired of bamboo; half of her extant paintings
depict this subject, and she mastered a variety of
techniques. This bamboo painting, done when she was
sixty-five years old, is a magnificent example of Saiko’s
mature style. Typical of her bamboo are the tall, thin
culms, from which spring slender, sharply pointed leaves.
This painting recalls the works of famous Ming painters of
bamboo such as Hsia Ch’ang (1388-1470). Saiko’s
brushwork is crisp and deliberate, imbued with the strength
which connoisseurs have long referred to as “bone.”
Although many leaves overlap one another, Saiko
preserved their clarity of structure. She varied the tonality
of her ink, presenting the bamboo closest to us in rich
black and gradually lightening the tones to create the
illusion of receding planes. Overall, the ink has a dry,
dessicated quality; this effect resulted from painting on
satin fabric which absorbed the ink more readily than
paper. Saiko described the painting process in her quatrain
in the upper right, comparing her bamboo to “azure
dragons” emerging from misty clouds.
I have filled this scroll with misty clouds of ink:
Azure dragons, halted by the wall of rocks,
Snake forth their claws in the lower foreground,
Seeming to drink the inkstone until it is dry.

I]
 43. Ema Saiko
Chrysanthemums
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on paper, 122 x 27.3 cm.
Seal: Saiko
Ema Shojiro Collection
Published: Soga, Zusetsu jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, vol. 7,
p. 49; Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan, Ogaki no senken ten:
Ransai to Saiko, p. 23.

Although bamboo was Saiko’s forte, her second favorite

“‘gentleman”’ was the chrysanthemum, a symbol of
fortitude and the scholar-recluse T’ao Yiian-ming (see Cat.
32 and 39). This scroll is undated, but the lack of a poetic
inscription as well as a signature may indicate that it was
done early in her career. She learned to paint this subject
from Shunkin, who advocated the use of proper Chinese
‘Southern school” models as prototypes. Consequently,
his paintings and those of his pupils like Saiko exhibit
structural clarity and continental modes of brushwork,
giving their works a conservative flavor in comparison to
those by earlier nanga masters. This generation gap is
obvious when Saiko’s chrysanthemums are contrasted with
Ike Gyokuran’s (Cat. 32). Not only is Saik6’s composition
more Chinese in spirit, but her brushwork has the restraint
and blandness sought by Chinese bunjin.
Saiko’s compositional design is rather subdued; the
movement of the Chinese rock jutting at an angle from the
lower left is suspended by the vertical growth of the
chrysanthemums. After defining the shape of the rock
with dry, medium gray ink, Saiko filled in the interior with
a light ink wash. The resulting texture has the rough,
mottled quality associated with this highly admired type of
rock. The forms of the chrysanthemum stems, leaves, and
petals were also defined with ink line and wash, but Saiko
enlivened the plants by adding light washes of yellow,
green, and blue. Although following literati conventions,
she has succeeded in expressing both the genteel nature
and the vitality of her subject.

112
44. Ema Saiko
Landscape, 1856
Hanging scroll, ink on silk, 118.5 x 43.2 cm.
Signature: Saik6 jinen nanaji
Seals: Ketsuen kanboku; Ema j6j6; Saik6 Joshi
Spencer Museum of Art: Jennifer Lyn De Gasperi Memorial
Fund, 86.55

Extant landscape paintings by Saiko are rare: this example

is inscribed as painted at age seventy. It is believed that
she turned to this subject late in her life, after she had
thoroughly mastered the “four gentlemen.”’ Landscape
required a more sophisticated understanding of Chinese
brush methods, a challenge that Saiko was prepared to face
only after she had reached an advanced age.
Although Shunkin had died in 1846, Saiko probably
received her initial training in this subject from him. The
standard Chinese compositional designs and mild-
mannered brushwork reflect the ideals of Shunkin and
other bunjin painters with whom Saiko associated in
Kyoto, such as San’yo, Chikuto, Ryuzan, and Baiitsu.
However, Saiko developed an individualistic manner of
applying brushstrokes which distinguishes her landscapes
from those by her colleagues.
She has constructed her mountain view by arranging the
landscape elements into diagonal planes which move
upward in a zigzag pattern. The path which begins in the
lower right invites us to enter; through the shifting
diagonal orientation of the footpath, we are led deeper into
the woods until we encounter an open pavilion situated on
a small plateau. From that point, the trail is obscured by
mist, but our imagination allows us to climb higher and
higher until we reach the uppermost peaks.
The tranquil, mysterious forces of nature are evoked
through the use of soft, gray washes and texture strokes
which build up the mountain forms. Saiko avoided color,
using only ink; her manner of texturing is unusual and
reveals a personal touch in the way she overlays wet areas
of wash with dry, scumbled strokes. Black accents in the
form of clusters of dots are sparsely scattered throughout,
animating the mountain forms. The complex interplay
between her arid brushstrokes and moist washes enriches
the surface texture of SaikO’s painting, providing the subtle
excitement that literati looked for in each other’s works.
The quiescent mood is further conveyed in Saiko’s quatrain
in the upper right, which reads:

How many places have I once traveled,

Where pure streams rushed between white rocks?
As I grow old, I can no longer freely roam,
So I pick up the brush to depict those hills and mountains.

113
45. Yoshida Shuran (1797-1866) The orchid became a popular subject among bunjin, partly
Orchid because of its traditional symbolism, but also because the
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 21.6 x 33 cm. form of this plant lent itself beautifully to calligraphic
Signature: Shuran Joshi utsusu brushwork. A poet like Shuran, skilled in handling the
Seal: Sa, to brush through writing, could master the subject without
Private collection difficulty. This painting is typical of Shuran’s orchids; she
preferred simple compositions and usually chose to depict
one plant. Here she began just to the left of center in order
to allow space at the right for the long leaves. One of the
Shiran’s favorite themes for pictorial expression were the most striking features of the Oriental orchid is the graceful
“four gentlemen.” Many of her extant works depict sweep of its leaves; bunjin artists enjoyed the free-flowing
orchids, a well-known literati subject that had acquired movement of the hand and brush that was required.
many layers of meaning in China. As early as the poetry Shuran brushed her orchids spontaneously, with fluid
of Ch’u Ytian (circa 340-circa 280 B.C.), the orchid had gestures communicating the svelte nature of the plant.
been associated with the virtues of the high-principled Each stroke is firm yet pliant, an indication of her skill in
gentleman scholar. The Oriental species of this plant is brushwork. She has deliberately utilized a variety of ink
quite different from the showy plants of the West: the tones to enliven the composition, reserving black for the
Chinese orchid is tiny and delicate in comparison. flower stamens and for one of the leaves extending upward
‘Fragile and unassertive, blooming modestly and to the right. Through the rhythmic movements of her
spreading its delicate fragrance in hidden places, it was a supple brush, she has given the impression that her orchids
particularly suitable image for a sensitive man who had are swaying in a gentle breeze.
withdrawn from the world.’’47

114
46. Yoshida Shiran rhythms apparent in her orchid paintings. Vitality
Chrysanthemums emanates from each brushstroke, imbuing the forms with
Album leaf, ink on satin, 10 x 16.3 cm. the “spirit resonance”’ so important to literati painting.
Signature: Sharan Joshi Shuran balanced the chrysanthemums with her couplet at
Seals: Kinsui; Sato the left, bringing this quiet ink painting to life through her
Nagoya City Museum evocative use of Chinese-style poetry.
Published: Kamiya Hiroshi, “Shtienjo,” Nagoya Shi Its dewy fragrance lies amidst a full range of autumnal
Hakubutsukan kenkya kiyo, vol. 6 (1982), p. 80. colors—
Blue stamens and amber petals are united in a single
blossom.

This leaf is from an album titled the ““Shuenjo” which

was compiled for the scholar Murase Sekkyo (1827-1879) in
the middle of the nineteenth century. The album contains
paintings and poetry by fifty-two bunjin, many of whom
were followers of Rai San’yo.48 Shuran was one of three
female contributors to the album, the other two being
Saiko and Koran.
Shuran painted the branch of chrysanthemums in moist
gray ink, arranging it so that it has a slight diagonal
orientation. Leaves and grasses curve elegantly to the right
and left, displaying some of the same graceful linear

11S
 47. Yoshida Sharan (with Okura Ryazan)
Peony and Orchid
Framed panel, ink on paper, 25.1 x 80.3 cm.
Signature: Shuran Joshi
Seals: Jo Sato no in; Jobun
Private collection

This painting is the combined effort of husband and wife:

Shuran brushed the peony to the right, and Ryuzan painted
the orchid to its left. Such joint endeavors were common
in bunjin circles, where individuals with shared sentiments
about art and poetry liked nothing better than to cooperate
in producing collaborative works called gassaku.
Having both studied painting with Chikuto, Shiran and
Ryuzan were extraordinarily compatible in style. Both
brushed the plants using wet ink, varying the amount of
water in order to create contrasts in tonality. Shiran’s
brushwork forming the peony is especially succulent. Not
only are the orchid and peony consistent in style, but they
are also skillfully integrated in terms of placement within
the overall compositional design. It is difficult to say
which part was painted first; the second artist deserves
special credit for uniting the two through the judicious
placement of his or her portion.

116
48. Cho Koran (1804-1879)
Butterflies, 1824
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 123 x 41 cm.
Signature: Cho-shi Keien
Hirose Choji Collection
Published: Nagoya Shi Hakubutsukan, Owari no kaiga shi: oF
Nanga (Nagoya: 1981), no. 149. Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan, <S >

Ishin kaiten no senku ningen: Seigan--sono kiseki, p. 37. 4?

x
“J HS
2.
x $1 te ds Se
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; 8 @ tes
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This is one of Koran’s earliest dated works, painted in F 3

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nk
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1824 when she and Seigan were on their western journey. BO ee
~ ye oa
In addition to inscribing the date, she recorded that it was oS
a
= Ss
wm
we
te
&
3
done at the terrace of Chomu ROkei, and afterwards
presented to him as a gift. Since butterflies were a popular
on
me
4x
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subject in Chinese painting, we might assume that Koran S 8 aR Se. ae
e ey 4e 3k
followed Chinese models;49 however, the range of species
: om Ei 4 4
in this painting, coupled with the blank background, i es
@ J
Ta ee
i z
2 ee ae 3
suggests that she may also have been inspired by botanical a FRG Ax Ag
texts. Western scientific books were imported to Japan in oR Th g
large numbers from the eighteenth century on, responding
to the burgeoning interest among Japanese intellectuals
eager to acquire knowledge from the West. Botanical
studies were subsequently published in Japan, exposing
Japanese artists of various schools to Western artistic styles
fe
and techniques.
2 cm
Sere
Koran does not seem to have employed any naturalistic
mode of expression here, but the fact that she depicted
twenty different species of butterflies demonstrates a kind
of scientific approach to her subject matter. She seems to
have been especially enamored with these insects, perhaps
because their multicolored wings are so visually appealing
and an artistic challenge to recreate.°° Koran painted the
butterflies with a combination of ink, pigments, and gold
paint so that their jewel-like wings form intricate patterns
against the amber silk background. Her sense of design is
already apparent in the asymmetrical arrangement of the
butterflies along diagonally oriented lines. Koran’s long
poetic inscription in the upper right reads:
s
In the gentle wind, among the hundred grasses, they are
equal to flowers,
Each one as vivid as cut-out rosy clouds.
I know that the spring god cherishes them very much
And especially sends spring to the domain of the lord of
pollen.
Low they fly and gently dance to and fro,
I sigh over such a vast expanse of springtime scenery.
Which family has a refined daughter to prepare the brush?
She should paint these browlike moths as they are.
Plants on the old terrace are covered with mist;
Green mounds of a thousand ages are things of the past.
I love their pure spirit that cannot be scattered
by the breeze—
They fly everywhere together in the spring wind.

117
 49. Cho Koran
Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 193 x 39 cm.
Signature: Cho-shi Koran utsusu
Seal: Shinsen yoji
Hakutakuan Collection

After Koran became a pupil of Nakabayashi Chikuto in

Kyoto in 1828, although she continued to paint bird-and-
flower subjects, she began to shift her attention to
landscape and the “four gentlemen.”” This landscape is
not dated, but on the basis of style and signature it must be
a work of her early years with Chikuto. It was obviously
intended as an essay in the style associated with the
Chinese Sung-dynasty master Mi Fu, featuring mountains
composed of layers of repeated horizontal dots. By the
nineteenth century, a larger number and wider range of
Chinese paintings than before were available to Japanese
artists for study. As bunjin like San’yo, Shunkin, and
Chikuto acquired a deeper understanding of Chinese
styles, they began to direct themselves toward capturing the
proprieties of the orthodox literati tradition. Consequently,
a trend toward conservatism was initiated in bunjinga;
paintings of this era are characterized by conventional,
tightly organized compositional schemes, systematic
building up of forms, and restrained brushwork.
Koran’s Landscape in the Style of Mi Fu is exceptionally
close to Chikuto’s works following the Sung master.>!
Beginning at the bottom with a foreground bank and grove
of trees, Koran layered the mountains along a vertical axis,
occasionally interspersing plateaus and areas of mist-
shrouded houses and trees. By using a range of ink tones
from light gray to black, she created a feeling of moist
atmosphere and lush foliage. Like Chikuto, Koran applied
her brush very systematically, the primary stroke being the
oval-shaped “Mi dot” made by laying the brush tip down
horizontally. Her brushwork is restrained, exhibiting an
allover consistency: the repetition of similarly shaped
mountain forms and brushstrokes establishes a sense of
unity and stability. At the same time, the build-up of short
horizontal strokes creates a shimmering surface pattern.
Despite her efforts to evoke the spirit of original Chinese
works, Koran’s paintings, like those of her teacher, exhibit
the Japanese sensitivity to scintillating surface effects.

118
50. Cho Koran
Winter Landscape, 1855
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on satin, 157.8 x 66.7 cm.
Signature: Koran Cho-shi
Seals: Cho-shi Keien; Doka; Hi ji yu kei shin ji kichi
Spencer Museum of Art, 86.51

Over the years, Koran deepened her understanding of

Chinese literati painting. The compositional structure and
brushwork of this landscape recall paintings by the late
Ming artist Lan Ying done in the manner of the Yiian-
dynasty master Huang Kung-wang (1269-1354). Numerous
paintings by Lan Ying were brought to Japan, and they
were instrumental in the formulation of the styles of
Chikuto and other artists of the nineteenth century
including Koran. In particular, the squared-off shape of
the mountain forms and clustering of rocks in this work
suggest the influence of Lan Ying filtered through the
brush of Chikuto.
Koran’s composition is carefully structured; beginning in
the lower right, she organized the bridges and slopes along
powerful diagonal lines, enticing the viewer to penetrate
deeper into the mountains. We can imagine ourselves as
the tiny figure riding his horse across the bridge in the
bottom left. Although Chikuto’s influence is evident, once
Koran learned his basic principles of painting she no
longer felt bound to imitate his style, and began to produce
more sophisticated and personal works. The use of steep
diagonals and the cloudlike rock formation in the center
left all seem to reflect her own tastes and inclinations.
Koran defined the forms with a combination of both dry
and wet brushstrokes in gray tonalities. In order to create
the effect of a wintry scene, she left the interior of the
rocks and mountains unpainted, allowing the white satin to
represent snow. Darker lines of ink were employed as
accents along the edges of the rocks and trees, and pale
washes of tan and green color for the trees and architecture.
Koran further dramatized the snow-covered forms by
surrounding them with dark wash. The theme of a snowy
landscape was initiated in China by the eighth-century
literatus Wang Wei, and it became especially popular
among Japanese bunjinga artists in the late nineteenth
century. Koran alludes to Wang Wei in her quatrain at the
upper left:
Wind cuts through the jade forests and silvery peaks,
Rich lustre shines to the limits of nature’s beauty.
[Wang] Tzu-yu turning back his boat and [Meng] Huo-jan
on his travels—
Together they enter a scene worthy of the poet-painter
Wang Wei.
Koran’s landscape forms half of a pair of scrolls, the other
being a calligraphy by her husband Seigan.

119
 51. Cho Koran
Bamboo and Rock
Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on silk,
12 Sey exes ile/aenne
Signature: Cho-shi Koran shiga
Seals: Cho-shi Keien; Doka
3 Private collection
a

%
45 As Koran matured as an artist, she turned more and more
B to ‘four gentlemen” themes. Perhaps because she had
been forced to suffer on account of poverty or political
convictions, or had lacked acceptance because she was a
woman, these subjects came to have special meaning for
her. This is evident in Bamboo and Rock on which she
inscribed a poem alluding to the endurance of bamboo and
its ability to rejuvenate.

ps
WE
BH
Myler
Nok
The town is filled with peach and plum blossoms,
Mr
RES
Ww
OW competing in springtime.
They resemble, in their profusion, frivolous people.
Who notices that this ““gentleman” can be strong and
upright,
Creating spring amidst the hills even in the eighth month.
From the 1840s on, Koran almost always added verses to
her paintings. Here poem and painting are powerfully
united, a feature frequently apparent in her work. Rich
black ink was used in the writing as well as in the bamboo
leaves in the center and lower left, underscoring the close
relationship between painting and calligraphy. Koran
introduced tonal variation through the use of wet, gray ink
to form the remaining bamboo and the eroded garden rock,
and through the soft modulation of ink and light color
within the rock which contrasts with the sharp, crisp leaves
of the plants.

120
52. Cho Koran
Plum Blossoms
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 134.9 x 47.6 cm.
Signature: Nanajisan Cho Koran
° >
8 HE 72 pe 4
Seals: Ch6-shi Keien; Doka; Kosho
Private collection
ee 2 4 Yh,
ye -

In Chinese poetry there is a long tradition of poems about

women in which the plum is used allegorically to express
distress at the passage of time and loss of youth.52 Plum
trees were especially appropriate symbols for women
bunjin since “‘they share a delicate and understated

)~ SR—e S
elegance that sets them apart from the ostentation and overt
Re
ie
SOs
\u
sensuality of colorful flowers and voluptuous women.’’>3 i>

By the Sung dynasty, the flowering plum had become

identified with women who lived in solitude and who had
suffered bitter hardships. K6ran was aware of the hidden
meaning of this subject, and she employed the plum time
and time again as a metaphor for herself. Her poem on
this painting eschews the butterflies of her youth and
praises the plum tree: through inference Koran compares
herself to this harbinger of spring which survives the snow
and cold.
Where are the butterflies, madly flying to and fro?
The lonely nightingale has not yet begun to sing.
Before the arrival of spring, one snowy branch
Blossoms a little, sending forth its fragrance three /i.
Silently its shadow moves with the help of the wind;
Its most cherished moment comes when whitened by the
moon.
Most people have eyes for only bright reds and purples—
Who can believe that this jade lady endures the frost?
The vigorous quality of Koran’s brushwork is apparent in
this work, particularly in the dry, rough strokes forming
some of the branches. The painting harmonizes with the
calligraphy: one forked branch even reaches upwards as
though to embrace it. Furthermore, the vertical columns of
writing are echoed in the lower left by the rows of twigs
springing upward from the main branch. As Koran grew
older, she wrote the poems on her paintings in larger
characters than before, giving them a more prominent role
in the overall design. Her calligraphy exhibits the same
raw power as does her painting. Koran’s inner strength at
age seventy-three is fully displayed in this scroll; the idea
communicated in painting, poem, and calligraphy is that
while blossoms may last only a moment, the tree endures.

:
12]
 53. Tokai Okon (1816-1888)
Red Cliff
= OTe
of
eyar
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 135.6 x 57.5 cm.
asn\lh teoe}
eae Signature: Tokai jiiissai joshi Okon
Seals: So(no) kao etsujin; Sanno hen Kon; Tokai ryoha
he

SRehan
2
Shoka Collection
“$s
Sven
val
OND
Published: Fister, “Tokai Okon,” Calligraphy Idea

‘ Rivet
Ose
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Fae ca
Exchange, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 27.

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Ce Okon was taken by her parents to Kyoto in 1825; she soon
o 5 succeeded in making a name for herself and was invited to
. ¢ BSpo
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Ss a rd the youthful age of nine. San’yo enthusiastically supported
fe

are <_
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ard
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oyster Okon, describing her brushwork as resembling billowing
ey
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ocean waves. We can glean some idea of Okon’s
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proficiency through an example of grass script inscribed by
ow 9aden
96S
2 dre her as having been written at age eleven, two years after
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her visit to the court. Because of the extreme speed and
ne AE
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nae
one ree
ates
ne.
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abbreviation in writing, grass or cursive script most
ay
GRENS
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Ke dramatically conveys the essence of calligraphy as an art
OMSY a se Ls
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Rr
SR
Se
Qh
EBUSS Hh 2 form. Perhaps no other traditional visual art of the world
(ao ae 4 4 & (a
is so kinesthetically exciting. The fundamental principle
+ 4k est ¥
ar ‘, SAwd
RO‘ hee underlying this script is to write each character as quickly
4 Se t & and simply as possible while still conveying the structural
vor “a Sor Qt
WES
Re
ones
ot
% BG GQ? rie SS Wt
wre ea essence of its form.
fee ye
reas
yfVV fe oe
‘ g vhs
¥

y
ES
NO
EA
aIn order to allow for expression of the greatest possible
creative freedom, calligraphers frequently chose to write
s. mK, aes

fie oh P be
yoo Ces
sas
standard texts from the classics which they had
Ma
ce
eae wereNA at
;
ey
9)
SS
YS
ye
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memorized. Okon’s text here is the Chinese poet Su Shih’s
<i> 2
eke
A
-
(1037-1101) first essay on the Red Cliff, which is
s

BasGste:
Qy-gye BH
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how considered to be one of the classics of Chinese literature.54
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vet
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The lively rhythm of her brushwork reveals the speed with
a AS
ANE ysaed> 5OOS
NOP
exes
a Sah
me which she wrote. Nevertheless, she maintained a formal
len ‘
- aS he ¥ balance within each character and in the relationships
4 a] 7
|pets
e-
ne ar
ad
s Ma t between them. The descending linear rhythm within the
Sa <
ic Saas
me
ae aXe
Ls
columns is continually varied, occasionally being
De
ae=o fs ¥ interspersed with dramatic flourishes of the brush or
SSN
shee
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owyeke
Bl
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Dee:
ee
Bp
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ALLE
Sa" = s.
BS
oO
“PSayer
cad
+
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GRHe
at
cer characters exaggerated in size for accent. Her brushlines
S o!
<>
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2.) &

ss
Sees
display great freedom of movement, yet they have a
4
Sey v*
get ‘
& RS
t< Wi,
structural integrity reflecting the control of the
Jeow@&Yve
<
calligrapher’s hand, a remarkable feat considering the
KS

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reaRs
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of tender age of the artist.
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woe é G eS Qe’
Ek
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122
54. Tokai Okon
Poem about Huai-su, 1831
Hanging scroll, ink on silk, 84.5 x 39.1 cm.
Signature: Toto Joshi Kon sho
Seals: So(no) kao etsujin; Tokai; Kon Joshi
Private collection
Published: Fister, ““Tokai Okon,” Calligraphy Idea
Exchange, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 31.

In his poem dedicated to Okon, San’yo observed that she

derived her style of writing from the Chinese monk Huai-
su (circa 735-800), who was noted for practicing a form of
cursive script described as “‘wild”’ or “mad.” In
comparison to more orthodox cursive styles, “wild’’ script
had more connections between characters in a column.
The resultant shapes were often extreme and exaggerated
and appear to have been written in a state of exhilaration.
Freest and most eccentric of all writing styles, “wild”
cursive script was developed for purely artistic reasons and
represents the ultimate calligraphic self-expression.
Okon herself acknowledged her debt to Huai-su. At the
age of fourteen she wrote out this poem, in which she
described his calligraphy as running down the paper like a
river over strange rocks, creating dragonlike images.
Where did this screen come from?
It is unmistakably the brushwork of Huai-su.
Although covered with dust,
One can still see the saturated ink traces
Running like a river in autumn over strange rocks,
Or like winter vines suspended from ancient pines.
If placed next to the water-filled paddies,
You might be afraid the characters will join to become a

ARS
HAA
IE
APT
dragon.
Her own writing in this example resembles closely the Red
Cliff essay done three years earlier, but here there are fewer
characters and they have been written with a fuller brush.
This allowed Okon to exploit the contrast of thickening and
thinning linework, and the characters seem to have more
three-dimensional space. One can follow each turn of the
brush as it went through the motion of its silent dance.

123
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124
55. Tokai Okon
Calligraphy at Age Sixty-four
Handscroll, ink on silk, 20.2 x 150 cm.
Signature: Rokujiiyon 6 Sanno hen Kon
Seals: So(no) kao etsujin; Sanno hen Kon; Shi hen yon kai
Spencer Museum of Art, 85.197
Published: Fister, “Tokai Okon,”’ Calligraphy Idea
Exchange, vol. 3, no. 4.

This handscroll is one of the rare examples of Okon’s

calligraphy dating from her later life; the content of its text
is autobiographical and is important as Okon’s artistic
testament.

When this old woman was young, I wrote calligraphy in

grass script. Following my father, I traveled all over the
country and even to the capital, insulting the glory of the
emperor by appearing before him. My three teachers—Rai
San’yo, Shinozaki Shochiku, and Sukegawa Rokudo—
recorded this honor for my father and each presented poems
to him on several occasions. They told my father that
because his young daughter was so unusually talented in
calligraphy, in the future she would be certain to suffer
adversity. Therefore, they taught me the principles of a
happy marriage with many children, and moreover that I
should not devote my life to calligraphy. Accordingly I was
married to Mr. Okamura. I had my teachers’ poems and
essays mounted and often hung them on the wall,
remembering my father and the kindness of my three
teachers fifty years ago. Nowadays misfortune has fallen; my
husband has died and I have run out of money; only these
three scrolls remain.>> A friend has asked for them, but I
am unable to endure exchanging them for money. Instead I
will keep them at home in memory of my late father and my
three teachers. As I record this I cannot help wiping away
the tears.

The strength, control, and endless variation exhibited by

Okon in this handscroll make it clear that she did not put
away her brush upon becoming married. Her writing at
age sixty-four expresses the maturity and controlled
vitality, not present in her childhood work, that can only
come with age and experience. The freedom of her early
writing is still apparent, but the forms are more integrated
and the handling of the brush is more naturally controlled.
Her brushwork displays a wider range in the tonality and
character of the ink (wet, dry, dark, light), and the
composition of groups of characters is more varied. There
is a balance between powerfully expressive strokes and
those showing restraint; the overall impression is one of
confident rhythm and natural harmony.
The function of this calligraphy was to communciate a
personal message. It was not a flashy display of skill as
were the works of her youth. Yet artistically the later
handscroll has more merit in terms of balance and
inventiveness of shapes and linear rhythms, indicating that
at this point in her life calligraphic artistry flowed forth
intuitively from Okon’s hand, springing directly from her
emotions.

125
Notes
1. In 1820 and again in 1830. Shibutsu slightly altered the characters in 29. Shiran’s name also appears in the 1847 Koto shoga jinmei roku
the title, which in Japanese became Zuien jodaiko shisensen. (Record of Calligraphers and Painters in the Imperial Capital), with a note
2. Dore, Education in Tokugawa Japan, 254. that she was a painting pupil of Chikuto, and that she was also skilled in
3. Analects (Lun Yii), Mencius (Meng Tzu), Great Learning (Ta Hsieh), calligraphy, poetry, and the seven-stringed ch’in.
and Golden Mean (Chung Yung). 30. From the Koran ik6.
4, Ito Shin, Yanagawa Seigan O, 65-66. 31. When Saik6 visited Kyoto in 1841, it is recorded that at a banquet,
5. This poem is included in vol. 2 of Saik6’s poetry collection entitled she, Sharan, and Shunkin shared in the creation of a painting. Saiko
Shomu iko. painted bamboo, Shunkin a rock, and Shiran added an orchid. Ito, Saikod
6. From the Koran iko. to Koran, 194.
7. Shunsa was not included because she spent her life in the provinces of 32. The information about K6ran’s life that follows was drawn largely
Mito and Kaga, and was unknown in Kyoto. from Ito Shin, Yanagawa Seigan O. For a biographical study in English,
8. Soeda Tatsumine, ‘Ema Saik6o to Yanagawa Koran,” 24. see Fister, “The Life and Art of Cho Koran.”
9. Soeda Tatsumine, “‘ Yanagawa Seigan to Koran Joshi,” 150-151. 33. Among the notable bunjin they visited were Kan Chazan (1748-1827)
10. Kazan also had another female pupil named Saito Kogyoku in Kannabe, Rai Kyohei (1756-1834) and Rai Itsuan (1800-1856) in
(1814-1870). Hiroshima, Kamei Shoy6 (1773-1836) in Chikuzen, and Hirose Tanso
11. Yohime; a daughter of the eleventh Tokugawa shogun, Ienari. (1782-1756) in Hida.
12. See his ‘“Geien zatsuwa,” Kaiga soshi. 34. For Tung’s text, see Susan Bush, Chinese Literati on Painting
13. The most accurate source of information on Saiko is Ito Shin’s book (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1971), 191.
entitled Saiké to Koran. Unless otherwise noted, the biographical 35. Koran did not begin to play the ch’in until 1846, when she became a
information supplied in this chapter comes from this volume. pupil of a man named Ogata living in Tsu.
14. For illustrations, see Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan, Ogaki no senken ten: 36. Koran’s name appeared in successive issues of the Heian jinbutsu shi,
Ransai to Saikoé, 14-15. including 1838, 1852, and 1867.
15. Many of these slanderous stories were written in the Meiji and Taisho 37. This collection of 450 verses was never published during Koran’s own
periods. Certain authors felt free to fictionalize and obviously had not lifetime, but survived into this century in the form of a handwritten
read the actual letters of Saiko and San’yo. Accounts of Saiko written in manuscript by Ono Kozan. It was later published by Tominaga Chojo in
her own time are all favorable. his Seigan zenshi, vol. 4.
16. Many examples of Saik6’s poems with San’yo’s corrections in red ink 38. From K6ran’s letters, we know that she was patronized by Kumagai
are preserved in the collection of Ema Shojiro. San’yo also served as a Naotaka, the owner of the famous paper store, Kyukyodo. Ninchoji,
poetry teacher to Saiko’s brother-in-law, Shosai. “Koran mibojin no shokan,” 139.
17. Before San’yo’s death, Saiko made seven trips to Kyoto: in 1814, 39. Tokari Soshinan, “Seigan fusai no tegami,”’ 27.
1817, 1819, 1822, 1824, 1827, and 1830. 40. The biographical information on Okon in this section has been
18. For example, Sakamoto Kizan’s Rai San’yo and ichiyama Shunjo’s adapted from Mimura Seizaburo, “Tokai Kon-jo.”
Zuihitsu Rai San’ yo. See Ito, Saiké to Koran, 174. 41. This poem appears in vol. 1 of the San’yo iké (1826), but was also
19. A momento from SaikO’s first visit to Kyoto in 1814, documenting her written out by him in scroll format. One version is in the collection of the
association with Shunkin and his father Gyokudo, is a collaborative Spencer Museum of Art.
painting produced by the three bunjin. For an illustration, see Hiroshima 42. Kon is the literal pronunciation of her name, but Japanese often add
Kenritsu Bijutsukan, Rai San’y6 o chishin to shita nanga ten, no. 85. In an honorific o as a prefix, and consequently she is usually referred to as
that year, Saiko also contributed a painting to an album which was Okon. The character Kon refers to a large, mythical fish mentioned in
compiled and presented to Gyokudo on his seventieth birthday. See Mori Chuang Tzu.
Senzo, Mori Senzo chosaku sha, vol. 3, 407. A woodblock illustration of 43. For an illustration of Shochiku’s text and an English translation, see
one of her bamboo paintings was also included in the 1814 Meika gafu (A Fister, “Tokai Okon,” 29 (Figure 2b).
Book of Paintings by Famous Masters). 44. Ibid., 30 (Figure 2c).
20. Over the years, Unge dedicated several poems to Saiko, and he was 45. See Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan, Mito no nanga.
clearly one of her many admirers. They became close friends and he 46. In the Ema Shojiro Collection there is a handscroll of bamboo done
visited her in Ogaki in 1827. For Unge’s poems, see Akamatsu Bunjiré, by Saiko with corrections and notations by Shunkin. For an illustration
ed., Unge Shonin iko. of one segment, see Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan, Ogaki no senken ten:
21. Quoted from Yoko Woodson, Traveling Bunjin Painters and Their Ransai to Saiko, 21.
Patrons: Economic Life Style and Art of Rai San’yo and Tanomura 47. Quoted from James Cahill, Hills Beyond a River (New York and
Chikuden (Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1983), 42. Tokyo: Weatherhill, 1976), 17.
22. Ten years after her death, in 1871, a two-volume collection with three 48. For more information on this album, see Kamiya Hiroshi, “Shienjo,”
hundred of Saiko’s verses was published by her nephew and niece, Nagoya Shi Hakubutsukan kenkyia kiyo, vol. 6 (1983), 69-80.
entitled the Shomu iko. Later, twenty-six of Saiko’s poems were also 49. Butterflies and other insects can be found in the works of Nagasaki
included in vol. 40 of the Tung-yang shih hstian (J: Toei shisen), an school followers of Shen Nan-p’in, but they are depicted in a more fully
anthology of Edo-period kanshi compiled by the Chinese scholar Yu developed setting with flowers, plants, and rocks.
Ch’ii-yiian and published in China in 1882. See Sano Masami 50. Koran did an almost identical painting in 1823, as well as other
(annotator), Toei shisen (Tokyo: Fukko Shoin, 1981). renditions of butterflies. For an illustration of the former, see Ito Shin,
23. She became such a distinguished figure that in 1852 her name was Saiké to Koran.
listed in the Heian jinbutsu shi in the section on well-known people from 51. For a similar painting by Chikutd, see Nagoya Shi Hakubutsukan,
other provinces. Earlier, she had been noted as a skilled poet, Owari no kaiga shi: Nanga (Nagoya, 1981), pl. 86.
calligrapher, and painter in the Sanno jinbutsu ko. 52. For a thorough study of the plum motif in Chinese art and literature,
24. Translated by Burton Watson. see Maggie Bickford, Bones of Jade, Soul of Ice (New Haven, Conn.: Yale
25. By referring to rivers and lakes, Saiko alludes to the fact that she has University Art Gallery, 1985).
not mingled with the rest of the world. Som Dideemloe
26. In the Ema Sh6jird Collection in Ogaki. The women included in this 54. For an English translation of the Red Cliff essay, see Cyril Birch, ed.,
handscroll are: Hirata Gyokuon, Kobayashi Haiho, Cho Koran, Shoko, Anthology of Chinese Literature (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1965),
Teitei, Baien, Renzan Joshi, Sennanseiho, Gyokue-jo, Toshi (wife of 381-382.
Uragami Shunkin), Yoshida Shuran, Rie (wife of Rai San’yo), Shido 55. The three scrolls referred to by Okon are now in the collection of the
(wife of Okada Hanko), Fusen-jo (wife of Yokoi Kinkoku), Sennanhomei, Spencer Museum of Art.
Kan-shi me Yao, Hara Saihin, Ryutai Joshi, Shinoda Bunpo, Manko-jo,
Oda Shitsushitsu, and Ran-jo.
27. Mori Senzo, Mori Senz6 chosaku sha, vol. 3, 412-413.
28. For further information on Gyokudo’s ch’ in music, see Stephen
Addiss, Tall Mountains and Flowing Waters (Honolulu: University of
Hawaii Press, 1987).

126
Chapter Fight: Ukiyo-e Painters and Printmakers

In the nineteenth century a surprising number of women painted professionally outside

of bunjin circles. As was the case in the eighteenth century, these women were most often
part of the mercantile ukiyo-e world. Earlier women ukiyo-e artists did only paintings; now
they were involved in producing prints as well.
Japanese prints were, from the beginning, products of teamwork. The process involved
artists, engravers, and printers, all of whom were coordinated and paid by publishers.
Competing with one another in commissioning designs from the leading artists, publishers
continually searched for new talent. Achieving success may have been a mixed blessing,
for those who did were called upon by publishers to pour forth an incredible number of
designs. As a result, all of the major artists had workshops where they trained apprentices
in the art of designing prints. Apprentices learned and mastered the subjects and style of
their teacher; the more advanced pupils were permitted to assist him (more rarely her) in
fulfilling commissions. The pupils who excelled might be retained by a publisher, and if
their designs proved popular, they moved on to establish their own studios. However,
success in the print world was potentially as fleeting as the “floating world” they depicted;
if an artist’s prints did not sell, he or she would soon be out of work. Artists contended
with one another to stay in public favor, catering to current tastes and fads.
Women with artistic interests were somewhat at an advantage in the nineteenth-century
ukiyo-e world, for suddenly they seemed to be in fashion. Several of the leading ukiyo-e
artists readily accepted women into their studios, including Katsushika Hokusai
(1760-1849), Utagawa Toyokuni I (1769-1825), Utagawa Toyokuni II (1777-1835), Tsunoda
Kunisada (1786-1864), and Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861). Whereas Kitagawa Utamaro
(1753-1806) had designed a diptych (Edo meibutsu nishiki-e késaku) around 1804 depicting
the making of multicolored prints in Edo,! in which he cleverly substituted beautiful women
for the less attractive real craftsmen, as the nineteenth century progressed, women working
in ukiyo-e ateliers became a reality.
Not only did ukiyo-e artists take in women apprentices, but there was a growing interest
in female historical figures as subject matter for prints. Kuniyoshi seems to have initiated
this trend, doing numerous series memorializing heroines, dutiful wives, and other virtuous
women. Among them were his Kenjo reppuden (Stories of Wise and Strong Women),
Kenjo hakkei (Eight Views of Wise and Strong Women), Jikken onna ogi (Ten Fans of Wise
Women), Ken’ya fujo kagami (Mirrors of Intelligent and Strong Women), Kokon honchd
meijo hyaku den (One Hundred Stories of Famous Women of Our Country, Ancient and
Modern), and Honcho taoyame soroi (Delicate Ladies of Our Country). Kuniyoshi even
included several women poets in these series; notable Edo-period figures he portrayed were
Chiyo (see chapter four) and Kaji (see chapter five). The attitude of ukiyo-e artists toward
women surely paralleled society’s changing views and acceptance of women into the art
world; whereas previous prints had depicted women as graceful beings whose duties lay in
pleasing men, now women were portrayed as having vigorous, sophisticated personalities.
Hokusai was without a doubt the most prolific artist in Edo during his time. Two of his
daughters, Oi (active Bunsei-Kaei eras, 1818-1854) and Tatsu (active Bunka and Bunsei
eras, 1804-1830), achieved a respectable degree of fame as painters, generally following the
style of their father. They did primarily figure paintings in the bold and colorful tradition
favored by Edo townspeople. Hokusai also seems to have accepted other women pupils
outside of his own family. These include Hokumei (active Bunka and Bunsei eras,
1804-1830), who in addition to illustrating books specialized in bijinga (paintings of
beautiful women),* and a lesser known figure called Hokuei.*
Toyokuni I had a daughter named Kunika-me (1810-1871) whom he encouraged to
paint; however, her work does not survive.* His other women pupils included Kunito-me
(active Bunsei era, 1818-1830), the wife of a samurai serving the Tokugawa shogun, and

127
 most well-
Kunihisa I (active Kyowa and Bunka eras, 1801-1818). Kunihisa is probably the
both prints and paintings by her have been preserved .°
known of Toyokuni’s female pupils;
Toyokuni II had a woman pupil whose name was written with similar characters , Kuniku-
me (active Bunsei and Tenpo eras, 1818-1844).
Kunisada is only known to have had one female pupil, Sadaka-me (active Bunsei era,
1818-1830), who in turn tutored another woman named Kakuju-jo (active Bunkyu era,
1861-1864), the designer of a small number of fine actor prints which earned her fame.
Kuniyoshi also instructed some important women pupils. Under his guidance, his first and
second daughters Yoshitori (active mid-nineteenth century) and Yoshi-jo (active Kaiei-
Bunkyi eras, 1848-1864)? took up the brush. Yoshitori died young, but is the better known
of the two because of the Sankai medetai zue series on which she collaborated with her
father (Cat. 64-66). Yoshitama (1836-1870) was a third female student of Kuniyoshi,
although she later studied with the artist Shibata Zeshin (1807-1891). The daughter of a
barber, she assisted in applying the colors to Kuniyoshi’s prints, occasionally producing
paintings and prints under her own name as well.®
There are a host of other women ukiyo-e artists of the nineteenth century whose names
and works have come to light: Fuki (active Bunka and Bunsei eras, 1804-1830);? Hirai
Renzan and Nagahara Baien;!° Ikutoshi;!! Mizuno Shuho (born 1875);!? Otowako (active
Bunsei era, 1818-1830); Ryuko (active Bunsei era, 1818-1830); Ho-shi Shunei-jo; and
Yanagita Sai-jo. In many cases we know very little about these women, and can only
speculate who their teachers might have been from the style of their paintings and prints.
As more attention is directed toward female ukiyo-e artists in the years to come, it should be
possible to piece together a more comprehensive study of their art and lineages.
Nevertheless, a few generalities can be made.
Works by all ukiyo-e artists of the nineteenth century, including women, fall into a
category which has long been termed “decadent” because of the growing trend toward
dramatic and often violent compositions, vivid and contrasting colors, and a greater degree
of stylization. It is a fact that ukiyo-e artists were always attracted to what was novel;
seeking to titillate and please their ever restless patrons, they moved away from the classical
compositions and idealized figures of the previous generation and developed an art that was
more in tune with the tastes and desires of their nineteenth-century audience. Shocking
tales of revenge and murder as well as ghost stories captivated the Edo public, who sought
in prints the sensational stories which they read about or witnessed on stage. In order to
communicate these stories more directly, ukiyo-e designers replaced the early idealism with
a more mannered treatment; dynamic, often contorted movements superseded the relaxed,
graceful atmosphere. Designed to appeal to a sophisticated, art conscious audience,
woodblock prints became more richly colored and elaborate than ever before. In particular,
engraving details reached an astonishing level of technical brilliance. Scholars have now
begun to study and admire the achievements of later prints, looking at them with aesthetic
values derived from a greater understanding of the society for which they were produced.
Because of the widespread enthusiasm for prints in Japan’s urban centers, publishers
and artists catered to a wider public than ever before. Prints were mass-produced at an
astounding rate in the nineteenth century, and overproduction inevitably brought about a
decline in quality at times which has led to criticism. Nevertheless, it was still a period of
exciting activity in ukiyo-e, and is particularly interesting because of the work by women
artists at this time. Because paintings and prints by others are scarce, only four women
ukiyo-e masters are included here: Oi, Tatsu, Kakuju-jo, and Yoshitori.

Katsushika Oi (active Bunsei-Kaei eras, 1818-1854)

Scholars seem to agree that Oi was the third daughter of Hokusai, the first to be born to
his second wife, but beyond that the facts about his children are confused.!3 Of all his
offspring, the most has been written about Oi.'4 She married the son of an oil seller around
the year 1820;'> her husband, Minamizawa Tomei,'¢ was a pupil of Tsutsumi Torin III
(circa 1743-1820). Oi also studied with Torin; painting apparently came naturally to her
and it is said that she poked fun at her husband’s work. Perhaps because of her
uncompromising character, what started out as a marriage of companionship eventually

128
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soured, and they were divorced. Oi then seems to have returned home to live with her
father.!7 She did not remarry and there is evidence that she assisted Hokusai in his
workshop until his death. The year of her divorce is not known, but Eisen (1790-1848)
wrote in 1833 that Oi had taken over certain responsibilities in her father’s studio, indicating
that by that year she had moved back home.!8
Oi and Hokusai were apparently two of a kind: free spirits, neither one cared about
material wealth or household cleanliness. They lived in relative poverty, purportedly
moving constantly because they would leave one place after it became too unbearable to
stay. Oi found cooking tiresome, so she would buy prepared food at the local market.
After eating, she did not bother to clean up, leaving the food wrappings scattered around
the room. There is a sketch by one of Hokusai’s pupils, Tsuyuki litsu (died 1869),
depicting Hokusai and Oi in one of their residences (Figure 13). At the right is Hokusai,
painting on the floor, and to his left is Oi. She has her head cocked to one side as she
watches her father paint, but her expression is not the look of fascination one might expect.
Instead she appears somewhat bored and lethargic, which fits with the description we have
of her slovenly lifestyle. She was homely, and Hokusai called her “Ago-ago” because of
her protruding chin (the Japanese word for chin is ago). Oi apparently drank like a man and
smoked tobacco (she holds a long pipe in Figure 13). She developed an interest in
divination, and took doses of medicinal herbs in an attempt to achieve immortality. In her
later years she turned to Buddhism, becoming devoutly religious.
Hokusai and Oi were devoted to one another. At some point, Oi, whose given name
was originally Ei (or Oei), adopted an artistic name written with characters that were
pronounced Oi. It is said that she did this in response to her father’s frequent summons for
her, “Oi, 6i.”!9 When Hokusai traveled to Shinshi (Nagano prefecture) in 1845, he told his
host-patron Takai Kozan (1805-1883) that he could not bear being parted from Oi whom he
had left in Edo. Takai encouraged Hokusai to return and fetch her, which Hokusai
promptly did.2° Oi became friendly with many of Hokusai’s friends and pupils. The
novelist Shikitei Sanba (1776-1822) inscribed at least one of her paintings (Cat. 56), and Oi
collaborated on works with Hokusai’s pupils Hokuba (1771-1844), Sekkotei, Hokuga,
Tokutokusai (Sekk6, active 1830-1840), and Hokuju (active 1789-1818).

129
 In addition to helping her father, Oi produced formal and informal paintings as well as
book illustrations. No single sheet prints with her name have yet been discovered, but she
designed the illustrations for the 1847 E-iri nichiyo onna chohd-ki (Cat. 59) and the
dictionary of Chinese-style tea, Sencha jibiki no shu (1848). Like other ukiyo-e artists in
her time, Oi experimented with Western perspective and chiaroscuro in her painting.*! In
addition to paintings and book illustrations, she also made a type of doll called keshi
ningyo which she sold to help earn a living.
After Hokusai’s death in 1849, Oi’s whereabouts are unclear. Sources differ as to what
she did; she may have drifted from place to place to stay with pupils or friends. According
to one story, she left the home of her brother’s family (Kase) in 1857 and went to
Kanazawa, where she died at the age of sixty-seven. Another story says that she died near
Kanazawa in the land of a samurai vassal of the Tokugawa family. Still another story relates
that she died at the home of Takai Sankuro in Shinshu.

Katsushika Tatsu (active Bunka and Bunsei eras, 1804-1830)

There is a small corpus of paintings by the woman artist Tatsu which continues to
puzzle art historians. One example, in the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (Cat. 60),
is signed “Painted by Hokusai’s daughter, Tatsu.” However, the standard biographies of
Hokusai do not list Tatsu among his daughters. She may have been another child who was
not recorded, or Tatsu could be an alternate name for one of his known daughters. Some
scholars believe that Tatsu was Hokusai’s second daughter (recorded as Otetsu),?* while
others insist that Tatsu was a sobriquet used by Oi, perhaps during the period she was
married.23 It is also possible that Tatsu could be another name for Hokusai’s first daughter,
Omiyo, or his fourth, Nao.
Because of her ambiguous identity, nothing is known about Tatsu’s life except that she
seems to have worked in the early nineteenth century. The three known paintings with her
signature all depict seated bijin in similar pose, rendered in a style modeled after that of
Hokusai.

Kakuju-jo (active Bunkyu era, 1861-1864)

Kakuju-jo is one of the rare female artists who actually had a woman for a teacher; she
is recorded as having studied with Kunisada’s pupil Sadaka-me. Unfortunately, no works
by Sadaka-me are known, making it impossible to determine how much influence she had
on the development of Kakuju-jo’s style. Since Kakuju-jo’s prints show an obvious debt to
Kunisada, it is likely that Sadaka-me closely adhered to the style of her master. Judging
from existing works, Kakuju-jo was a print-designer and not a painter. Prints with her
signature are few in number, and all seem to depict scenes from kabuki plays.

Yoshitori (active mid-nineteenth century)

The eldest daughter of Kuniyoshi, Yoshitori made a name for herself through a series of
seventy prints published in 1852 entitled Sankai medetai zue; she designed the landscape
insets, and her father the figures of women in the foreground. It is obvious from
Kuniyoshi’s own prints that he recognized the contributions women had made in both the
past and present. Moreover, he supported the idea of women taking active roles in society,
and taught both of his daughters artistic skills. Although the younger daughter does not
seem to have designed prints, Yoshitori did for several years.24 Little is known of her life,
though we can surmise that she had a son by the year 1840. In a print from the series Yodo
shogei kyoso6 (Instruction for Children in the Accomplishments) done close to that time,
Kuniyoshi depicted a mother showing her child how to draw (Figure 14); beside her lies a
sketch bearing the signature Yoshitori-jo, revealing that this is a portrait of Kuniyoshi’s
talented daughter and grandson.

130
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56. Katsushika Oi second day [soon becomes] the plain white robes of the first
day of the eighth month.*”? As Ikkyu?® said, “Take care, take
(active Bunsei-Kaei eras, 1818-1854)
Cate) maz
Courtesan at the New Year
Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper,
Oi’s depiction of the courtesan has all of the
24.5 x 36.7 cm. nonchalance and uninhibited spirit of Sanba’s mocking
Signature: Gido Oi ga prose. Seated so that she faces away from the viewer, the
Seal: Oi? courtesan bides her time by reading a book. Hairpins
Prof. Dr. Med. Gerhard Pulverer Collection protrude from her elaborate coiffure, giving her the
Published: Ukiyo-e, vol. 52 (1972), pl. 370. appearance of a cat seen from behind, with ears pricked
and whiskers bristling. Her voluminous outer robe flows
around her, the folds splayed adroitly at the right. At the
bottom of her garment is a design of pine boughs, perhaps
alluding to the new year.
This work is a collaboration between Oi and the Although rendering the painting almost entirely in ink,
popular writer Shikitei Sanba: Oi did the painting of the Oi employed a faint pink wash to portions of the clothing.
oiran or high-ranking courtesan, and Sanba wrote the long Her brushwork is free and spontaneous, imbued with the
inscription which begins in the upper right and ends in the light-hearted quality one finds in haiga (see chapter four).
lower left. Sanba associated with a number of ukiyo-e She achieved artistic variety through contrasting gray
designers, and was a welcome guest at gatherings of artists washes with dry, rough outlines; Oi employed darker ink as
and poets in Edo because of his ability to compose witty, accents, drawing attention to the courtesan’s head and the
spontaneous verses.2>° The theme of this painting and pine design. Usually celebrated for her more formal,
accompanying prose suggests that it was created at the start detailed paintings, Oi was obviously a master at conveying
of a new year, perhaps as a gift for a mutual friend. the essence of her subject in this sort of informal,
Sanba’s rather rambunctious inscription says: abbreviated work. She undoubtedly learned this style from
Make your plans for the year in the spring, the season for the Hokusai; several sketchlike works of courtesans by him
“first purchase” of a courtesan. Make your plans for the day remain which are very similar in nature.3° The
in the morning, the time of the client who has stayed all
spontaneous mode was practiced by Hokusai’s other pupils
night. An oiran always has a New Year’s feeling in her
heart, but her client never realizes that there is a final day of as well; in another cooperative work in which Oi
reckoning.2° If one realizes how quickly pass the endless participated with five other Hokusai followers, all six
cycles of birth and reincarnation, the “first apparel” of the artists rendered their figures in this abbreviated manner.*!

13]
57. Katsushika Oi The subject of courtesans had enjoyed long-lasting
Courtesan Writing a Letter popularity in ukiyo-e, due to the unflagging demand of
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 26.2 x 28 cm. urban patrons. Oi was obviously familiar with the
Signature: Gid6 Oi giga contemporary Yoshiwara scene; judging from her extant
Seal: Shigenaga no in works, she chose to paint courtesans more often than any
Dr. and Mrs. George A. Colom Collection other subject. This is in marked contrast to her father, who
Published: Ukiyo-e, vol. 72, pl. 649. painted everything under the sun. In her informal
paintings, Oi seems to have been most influenced by the
style Hokusai practiced from 1795-1805. Hokusai’s
paintings of courtesans from this period are
Pausing with brush in hand, a slender courtesan characteristically portrayed with long, thin faces. Some
intently fills a long paper scroll with her elegant scholars have attempted to assign dates to Oi’s works by
calligraphy. She is most likely writing a love letter. This associating them stylistically with Hokusai’s various
painting was done in Oi’s informal style also seen in Cat. periods; however, Oi may well have painted in 1820 in a
56. The pose of the woman is almost identical, though style that Hokusai had utilized in 1800. It is virtually
here she faces the viewer. The textile design on her impossible to recreate a chronology for Oi’s artistic
garment is likewise the same, featuring a pine bough development, since she did not date any of her paintings,
springing from the lower hem. Oi defined both the figure and we are not even certain of her birth and death dates.
and her outer robe with dry brush lines, filling in some of Her skill as an artist, however, is evident in all of her
the interior portions with wet ink washes. Although the works.
conception is simple, Oi has employed a diversity of brush
techniques and ink tonalities in order to create a visually
rich design.

132
58. Katsushika Oi contrasting their garments with the subdued brown robe of
Three Musicians the older woman at the right.
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 47 x 67.3 cm. The poses of the figures and brush manner recall
Signature: Oi suijo hitsu Hokusai’s works of his middle years. Hokusai’s influence
Seal: O is especially notable in the jagged brushwork defining the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, neckbands and sleeve openings. However, Oi has not
Courtesy William Sturgis Bigelow Collection exploited as much the thickening and thinning of lines, and
Published: Akai, Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 7, no. 48; Narazaki
her strokes lack the nervous animated brushwork of her
Muneshige, ed., Zaigai hiho (Tokyo: Gakushu Kenkyusha
father. Instead she devoted her attention to recreating the
1969), vol. 4, no. 94.
(not in exhibition) textures and sumptuous designs of the fabrics; the color
combinations are electric at times. Traces of shading are
apparent in the checkered kosode of the woman at the far
left, hinting at Oi’s interest in Western artistic techniques.
By utilizing a concentration of black and rich hues, she
invites attention to the milk-white faces and agile hands of
This scroll exemplifies the formal beauty of Oi’s more the women, consciously positioned to evoke rhythmic
colorful, detailed painting style. Three women kneel in a interplay among them. The circular arrangement of the
circle facing one another, each concentrating intensely on figures and the movement implied through their fingers and
the stringed instrument she is playing.* In comparison heads creates a musical rhythm of its own, evocative of the
with Oi’s two casually brushed paintings (Cat. 56 and 57), piece that the women are playing. The masterful design
the coloring here is opaque, displaying the bold and vivid and exquisite detail combine to make the Boston scroll one
hues characteristic of nineteenth-century ukiyo-e. Oi has of Oi’s most outstanding paintings.
clothed two of the women in rather flamboyant kosode,
134
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59. Katsushika Oi
E-iri nichiyo onna choho-ki
(Illustrated Handbook for Women), 1847
Woodblock-printed book, 25.4 x 17.3 cm.
Signature: Oiei-jo hitsu
Ravicz Collection

The E-iri nichiyé onna choho-ki is one of two

woodblock-printed books known to have been illustrated
by Oi. This particular volume was edited by Takai Ranzan
(1762-1838) and published in Edo in 1847. An earlier
edition by him was printed in 1829, but the first version of
this book was written (and possibly illustrated) by
Naemura Johaku, appearing in Kyoto in 1692;-several
editions were published in the Edo period in different cities
under different titles.33
An encyclopedia for women, the Onna choho-ki
exemplifies the moral instruction books that were
extremely popular in the Edo period. Most of them
stressed the cultivation of traditional values which were
considered of utmost importance for the proper functioning
of women in Japanese society. Although the early editions
were written for the women of the samurai and wealthy clean and arrange one’s hair, the application of powder, and
townsmen classes, by the nineteenth century such books tooth blackening. A great deal of attention is paid to the
were reaching a wider audience. Near the beginning of the cultivation of feminine talents and activities deemed
Onna choho-ki there is a double page illustration depicting appropriate for women. There are sections on sewing,
women from various walks of life (Cat. 59a). Top to weaving, writing poetry and calligraphy (Cat. 59d),
bottom, right to left, they are labeled: townsperson, musical instruments (koto and shamisen) (Cat. 59e), as
samurai class, imperial court, commoner, concubine, well as explanations of the games of incense identification
courtesan, prostitute, and widow. The Onna choho-ki is (Cat. 59f) and poem cards.
distinctive because, in addition to moral instruction, it Oi’s illustrations are quite different in style from those
contains a good deal of practical advice for women on day- of the original seventeenth-century edition. Although she
to-day living. There is a plethora of medical information— designed almost the same number of illustrations (there are
how to detect the symptoms of tuberculosis, how to thirty-eight pages with pictures) and depicted the same
diagnose a pregnancy, foods to avoid during pregnancy subjects, Oi’s figures are larger and better integrated into
(crabs, or the child will come out sideways, etc.), lucky their settings. In addition, she rendered them in a
directions in which a pregnant woman should contrive to contemporary style different from the earlier editions
face on various days of the zodiac, charms to secure an which had designs in the manner of Hishikawa Moronobu
easy delivery, and herbs to improve the flow of milk. The or Yoshida Hanbei; Oi’s figures are clearly patterned after
section on pregnancy is especially interesting because of Hokusai’s works of his forties. She tends to include more
the detailed illustrations meant to show what the fetus detail, and the proportions of her figures and objects are
looks like at each stage of its life in the womb (Cat. 59b). more natural. At times she even employs a semi-Western
Underneath, an actual birth is depicted; this section is perspective, with distant figures depicted on a smaller scale
followed by advice on the care of infants and raising of and lines receding along diagonals.
children. It is believed that some handbooks for women were
Long passages on etiquette and personal deportment authored by females, but this edition of the Onna chohé-ki
are included, and on the correct forms for various may be the only example which was actually illustrated by
ceremonies, especially weddings. The author made clear a woman. The editor or publisher may have felt that
distinctions in the behavior and rituals for women of having a woman design the pictures would be a novel and
different classes. One illustration contrasts an elaborate saleable idea. With the publication of this book and a
samurai wedding above with the simple ceremony observed dictionary of tea with her designs in 1849, Oi achieved a
by the lower classes below (Cat. 59c). There are also certain degree of fame in Edo two years before her father’s
detailed explanations and illustrations showing how to death. Unfortunately, she seems to have faded into
serve and eat various foods. Cosmetic tips include how to obscurity after Hokusai died.
60. Katsushika Tatsu surface by playing off darker areas against lighter ones.
(active Bunka and Bunsei eras, 1804-1830) The white face and hands of the courtesan, along with her

Courtesan with Fan white undergarment decorated with cherry blossoms,

Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 44.6 x 34.4 cm. provide a welcome contrast to the somber darkness of her
Signature: Katsushika musume Tatsu-jo hitsu outer robe; a similar contrast was achieved by the porcelain
Seal: Yoshinoyama bowl and black lacquer tray.
Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Ernest Larsen One assumes that Tatsu learned to paint from her
Blanck Memorial Gift, 58.26. 1 father; the seal she used on her paintings reading
Published: Akai, Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 7, no. 51; “Yoshinoyama” seems to be identical to a seal Hokusai
Narazaki Muneshige, Zaigai hihd (Tokyo: Gakushu
used around 1815. Hokusai was known to bequeath names
Kenkyusha, 1969), vol. 3, no. 95; Ukiyo-e taisei, vol. 9,
and seals to favored pupils, and this is likely the case with
no. 28.
Tatsu. As to the problem of whether or not Tatsu is merely
This depiction of a seated courtesan is celebrated as an earlier name used by Oi, stylistic differences in their
one of the rare scrolls by Hokusai’s enigmatic daughter paintings and calligraphy seem to indicate that they were
Tatsu.34 It is exquisitely painted, with the courtesan’s not the same person. However, the situation cannot be
garment rendered in rich, opaque pigments. The woman clarified until more works by both artists are brought to
looks downward, her face partially hidden in the wide light.
collar of her robe; deep in thought, her expression is one of Two Edo kydka poets added verses to Tatsu’s painting,
melancholy. Her right hand gracefully holds a flat, round associating the beauty of the courtesan with the morning
fan, indicating that the season is summer. Her gaze seems glories.
to be directed toward the lacquer tray at the left which Oki ideshi More than the silk
contains a blue-and-white porcelain bow] filled with Tsubomi no imo ga The awakening budding beauty
Kinu yori mo Appears as fresh
morning glories. Perhaps they are a gift from a lover or
Kasuri ni sakeru As the morning glories
admirer. Asagao no hana Blooming in the kasuri patterns.
The form and proportions of the figure, along with the (by Nanakyokutei Gyokugi)
style of brushwork, resemble Hokusai’s paintings dated Kaki ho yori The morning glories which
1807-1815. This is especially apparent in the brushlines Torieshimama no I have just picked
Asagao ni From the fence are
defining the courtesan’s robes, which fluctuate dramatically
Tsuyu mo taruka to Dripping with dew
in thickness. While lacking Hokusai’s personal dynamism Omou taoyame As fresh as the maiden.
of brushwork, Tatsu has further animated the pictorial (by Chokotei Undo)
61. Kakuju-jo (active Bunkyd era, 1861-1864) Kakuju-jo’s stylized treatment of the figures, with their
Kanadehon Chishingura, 1862 long oval-shaped faces and pointed chins, is clearly within
Woodblock prints, diptych, each 35.8 x 24.5 cm. the Kunisada tradition which she learned from Sadaka-me.
Signature: Meirindo Kakuko-me hitsu The angular, stiff depiction of the clothing also recalls the
Spencer Museum of Art: Weare-West Fund, 84.167 style of Kunisada. Inspired by the bold color contrasts of
the master, Kakuju-jo chose to emphasize the strident red,
yellow, and green colors, along with blue and black. This
vivid coloring gives the pair of prints much of its impact.
Kakuju-jo’s known prints were all published in Edo in The dramatic moment is also heightened by the diagonal
the year 1862, indicating that she enjoyed only a brief lines of the fences and walls which converge in the center,
period of success. Without exception they depict episodes leading the eye directly to the two figures.
from the popular kabuki drama. This diptych represents a
scene from the third act of Chishingura, the famous tale of
the revenge of the forty-seven samurai. Okaru (played by
Sawamura Tanosuke) has been pushed away by her
husband, the samurai Hayano Kanpei (here played by
Bando Hikisaburo). He has learned that his master
attacked another feudal lord and as a result has been
confined to his house. Kanpei believes that he should have
been at his master’s side, instead of enjoying the company
of Okaru. He feels dishonor, knowing that his master will
be asked to commit seppuku. Kakuju-jo has represented
the moment just after the distressed Kanpei has had a
violent fight with the henchmen of his master’s enemy.
Kanpei was preparing to kill one of them with his sword,
but Okaru pulled him away. The couple stands in a state of
shock, in front of a wooden gateway built into the stone
wall surrounding the mansion. Black crows fly through the
indigo blue sky: above the pine trees, symbols of
impending doom.

137
62. Kakuju-jo with him. Shinbei confronts Sukeroku and reprimands him
Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura for upsetting their mother, whereupon Sukeroku confesses
Woodblock print, 32.4 x 24.1 cm. the reasoning behind his madness. Shinbei is immediately
Signature: Meirindd Kakuju-jo ga sympathetic and wishes to join forces with Sukeroku.
Mary Baskett Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio Sukeroku proceeds to try to teach him how to fight.
Kakuju-jo has depicted the scene in front of a Yoshiwara
teahouse where Sukeroku adopts various fighting stances
which his brother then clumsily tries to imitate. The
Acting out an episode from the first scene of Sukeroku results are quite comical because Shinbei is by nature
yukari no Edo zakura (Sukeroku: Flower of Edo) are the gentle and delicate and does not have his brother’s
kabuki actors Kawarazaki Gonjuro (Danjuro IX) and masculine build.
Nakamura Shikan; respectively they are playing the roles As can be seen in the previous diptych, Kakuju-jo
of the hero Sukeroku (right) and his brother Shinbei, the relied upon a small range of colors, with blue, red, green,
latter disguised as a sake merchant. Sukeroku, actually yellow, and black predominant. The limited polychromy
Soga no Goro, is searching for his family’s treasured and comparatively unadorned design work together to
sword; his strategy is to frequent the Yoshiwara pleasure achieve a direct impact on the viewer. Forceful action is
district and to provoke quarrels in order to cause samurai to suggested by the pose of both actors, whose legs extend at
draw their swords. Oblivious to the missing sword and sharp diagonals; this movement is counterbalanced by the
Sukeroku’s plan, Sukeroku’s mother has become troubled horizontal gestures of their arms and the strong vertical of
by her son’s brawls and asks his brother Shinbei to speak Shinbei’s halberd.

138
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63. Kakuju-jo that he is prepared to fight. In the opening of the second

Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura, 1862 scene, Sukeroku has discovered that a wealthy samurai
Woodblock print, one sheet from a triptych, 32.4 x 24.1 cm. named Ikyu, who frequents the establishment of his
Signature: Meirindo Kakuju-jo ga courtesan mistress, possesses the sword he seeks. Kakuju-
Mary Baskett Gallery, Cincinnati, Ohio jo shows Sukeroku luring his adversary into combat. The
color range is even more limited than usual for Kakuju-jo,
with black prevailing. Nevertheless, the actor’s diagonal
stance, together with the crossed eyes of his mie, convey
This print originally formed the right sheet of a the dynamic spirit of the hero.
triptych which has since been separated.*> It depicts the
actor Kawarazaki Gonjuro playing the role of Sukeroku in
the kabuki play Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura. The pose
of the figure is strikingly close to that of the same actor
(playing the same role) depicted in Cat. 62, showing how
print designers habitually drew from a repertoire of
designs. In both, Sukeroku has assumed a pose of strength
and vigor called a mie. This is a moment in kabuki when
the hero takes a dramatic stance, pauses, and crosses one
eye, usually to tumultuous applause. Here Sukeroku has
freed his right arm from his black outer robe, an indication

139
64. Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797-1861) and Yoshitori 65. Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Yoshitori
(active mid-19th century) Sankai medetai zue, no. 65: Lime from Kawochi, 1852
Sankai medetai zue, no. 2: Whales from Hirado, |1852 Woodblock print, 38.1 x 25.4 cm.
Woodblock print, 37.5 x 25.4 cm. Signature on inset: Yoshitori ga
Signature on inset: Yoshitori ga Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts:
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts: The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection, 60.D05.925
The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection, 60.DO5.522

Yoshitori collaborated with her father on a series of Here Yoshitori has depicted four men gathering lime
seventy prints entitled Sankai medetai zue (Propitious from the hillsides of Kawochi. Down below, a young
Products of Mountains and Seas). Kuniyoshi designed the mother is nursing an overly energetic child. The woman
large bust portraits of attractive women in the foreground, looks exhausted and says “Hayaku nekashitai” (I'd like to
and Yoshitori depicted the scenes within the rectangular put him to bed early). The connection between the female
insets in the upper left. figure and the lime gatherers may involve a play on the
Yoshitori’s views are labeled with the name of each verb nekaseru, which in addition to meaning “to put to
location and its special products, scenes, or activities. sleep” can mean “to complete a task.” The men, too, are
Here a group of men are pulling in a huge black whale off eager to finish their chore.
the coast of Hirado in Kyushu. There seems to be an
implied relationship between the activity of the female
figures and the scenes in the insets. Here the woman looks
up from the theatrical program she is reading and says
‘“Hayaku mitai’”?° (I want to see it soon), perhaps referring
to a kabuki performance. Her wish obviously parallels the
desire of the men pulling in the whale as it slowly comes
into view.

140
66. Utagawa Kuniyoshi and Yoshitori
Sankai medetai zue, no. 41: Mackerel from Noto, 1852
Woodblock print, 37.5 x 25.4 cm.
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts:
The Raymond A. Bidwell Collection, 60.D05.527

In the upper left, Yoshitori’s workers strain to turn the

pulley which hauls in the fishing boats; the woman below
is biting her sleeve in a display of anger or jealousy. The
caption reads “Harebottai” (swollen face or puffy eyes); in
Japanese, puffiness is used as an expression of unhappy
emotion. While the fishermen arrive at this peculiar look
through their hard, thankless task, the woman’s frustration
may be dissatisfaction with an ill-fated love relationship.
In all three prints, the style of Yoshitori’s landscapes
and figures recalls that of Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858).
Landscape forms are outlined with little interior texturing;
they are given substance through the graduated color
printing technique which became highly developed during
the second quarter of the nineteenth century. Within these
settings, the lively actions of the figures become the crucial
element in creating successful designs. Rendering them
with great brevity, Yoshitori is able to evoke the mood and
excitement of the workers’ labor through their bending,
pulling, leaning, activated poses.

141
Notes
1. For a reproduction, see R. A. Crighton, The Floating World: Japanese 21. For an illustration of one of her paintings featuring a dramatic use of
Popular Prints 1700-1900 (London: Victoria and Albert Museum, 1973), chiaroscuro, see Akai Tatsuro, ed., Nikuhitsu ukiyo-e, vol. 7, no. 50.
1. 1169. 22. Narazaki Muneshige in his entry on Oi in Zaigai hihd, wrote that
5 The best sources for biographical information on women ukiyo-e artists Tatsu was Hokusai’s second daughter. This second daughter married, but
are Inoue Kazuo, ed., Ukiyo-e shi den; Nihon Ukiyo-e Kyokai, Genshoku died young.
ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, and Yoshida Teruji, Ukiyo-e jiten. 23. Hayashi Yoshikazu, Yamaguchi Genshu, and Yasuda Gozo all
3. For an illustration of one of Hokumei’s paintings, see Hayashi subscribe to this theory. Yasuda attempts to prove this through
Yoshikazu, Enpon kenkyu: Oei to Eisen, 66. comparison of Tatsu’s and Oi’s signatures, but his findings are
4. Hokuei’s name does not appear in the standard ukiyo-e biographical unconvincing.
dictionaries, but a painting by her signed Katsushika Hokuei is in a 1976 24. Yoshitori later married a fishmonger named Inosuke and together they
catalogue published by the Tokyo ukiyo-e dealer, Hakurodo, pl. 196. It lived in the Nihonbashi area of Edo.
bears an inscription by Shokusanjin. The female artist Hokuei is not to 25. For further information about Shikitei Sanba and his writings, see
be confused with the Osaka ukiyo-e artist of the same name. Robert W. Leutner, Shikitei Sanba and the Comic Tradition in Edo Fiction
5. Her name was originally Kin, but later it was changed to Kokin. She (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard-Yenching Institute, 1985).
was given the art name ItchOsai Kunika-me by her father, who began to 26. Traditionally, outstanding bills are paid on the last day of the year.
teach her how to paint when she was around ten. In 1826, one year after 27. The courtesans’ changes of robes for special spring and fall festivals
her father died, she was married to Watanabe Thei, a proprietor of a suggest the rapid passage of time—in place of the seasonal changes that
confectionary in Ichigaya. By 1828 she had discontinued painting, for are usually used.
there is a memorial marker where she buried her brushes dated that year. 28. Ikkyt (1394-1481) was a famous Zen monk who broke tradition by
According to Inoue’s Ukiyo-e shi den, she quit of her own free will, but patronizing courtesans.
one wonders if she was not pressured to do so by her husband’s family. 29. I am indebted to Andrew Markus for his help in translating and
6. For illustrations, see Yoshida, Ukiyo-e jiten, vol. 1, 327, and Nihon interpreting this passage.
Ukiyo-e Kyokai, Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, vol. 2, 36. 30. For reproductions of two examples, see Ozaki Shudo, Katsushika
7. For an illustration of a triptych by Yoshi-jo, see Nihon Ukiyo-e Hokusai (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbun, 1967), no. 55 and Hokusai
Kyokai, Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, vol. 2, 102. Most nikuhitsu ga meihin ten (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shinbunsha Bunka
biographies state that she was married to her father’s adopted herr, Jigyobu, 1972), no. 83.
Taguchi Kiei; however, some say that she became the wife of Eiki, a pupil 31. The other five artists were Hokuba, Sekkotei, Hokuga, Tokutokusai,
of the artist Satake Eikai (1803-1874), and after Eiki’s death married and Hokuju. For an illustration, see Ukiyo-e, vol. 52 (1972), 21
Washizu Ikkaku. (pl. 369).
8. Yoshitama appears at work in Kuniyoshi’s workshop in a sketch from a 32. From right to left, the musical instruments represented are shamisen,
woodblock book entitled Gydsai gadan by Kawanabe Gyosai (1831-1889). koto, and kokya.
For an example of one of Yoshitama’s own prints, see Nihon Ukiyo-e 33. It was published later in Edo with the title Onna takara-gura, and in
Kyokai, Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, vol. 2, 102. Yoshitama Osaka with the title Onna choho-ki taisei. For further information, see
eventually retired from the art world and became a nun, traveled for two Tanaka Chitako and Tanaka Hatsuo, eds., “E-iri onna choho-ki,”
years, and died upon returning to Edo. Kaseigaku bunken shisei (Tokyo: Watanabe Shoten, 1970), vol. 3, 10-14.
9. Daughter and pupil of Tsutsumi Torin III (circa 1743-1820). For an A copy of the 1692 edition is in the Ryerson Collection at the Chicago Art
illustration of one of her prints, see Genshoku ukiyo-e dai hyakka jiten, Institute.
vol. 2, 86. 34. Two other paintings believed to be by Tatsu are known, both depicting
10. Renzan and Baien were sisters; they often collaborated on paintings, courtesans in similar poses. One is published in Narazaki Muneshige,
with Baien doing the figures and Renzan the backgrounds. Hokusai ron (Tokyo: Atorie Sha, 1944), 9; it is signed “Tatsu-jo hitsu”
11. Pupil of Utagawa Yoshiiku (1833-1904). and was stamped with the same “Yoshinoyama” seal as the Los Angeles
12. Pupil and wife of Mizuno Toshikata (1866-1908). painting. The other painting appeared in an exhibition catalogue
13. The Katsushika Hokusai den by lijima Hanjuro (Tokyo: Kobayashi published by the Tokyo dealer Hakurod6; it was not impressed with a
Bunshichi, 1893) is the source on which everyone relies. According to seal, but the character ““Tatsu” was cleverly painted on the fan held by the
this account, Hokusai had one son and two daughters by his first wife; the courtesan.
eldest daughter named Omiyo was married to the print designer Yanagawa 35. The central print portrays Sukeroku’s courtesan mistress, Agemaki,
Shigenobu (1787-1832), who became Hokusai’s adopted son. The second and the left print a rich samurai named Ikya.
daughter’s name is not certain, but may have been Otetsu. Oi was 36. These words appear just to the left of the series title.
Hokusai’s daughter by his second wife, who also bore him a son; Hokusai
may have had a fourth daughter named Nao (by his second wife) who died
young. Other nineteenth-century records are not as complete: Eisen’s
1833 Mumeio zuihitsu records Hokusai as having three daughters, but
does not mention any sons. Kyokutei Bakin, in his 1835 Ato no Tame no
ki, wrote that Hokusai had one son and one daughter. For a discussion of
this problem, see Hayashi, Oei to Eisen, 51-52.
14. In addition to a long entry in Sekine Shisei’s Ukiyo-e hyakka den,
several articles have been written about Oi (see the bibliography). Most
of the information they quote is from the Katsushika Hokusai den.
15. This date is purely conjecture; Yasuda G6zo concocted an elaborate
chronology of Oi’s life which he sets forth in his article “Hokusai no
musume: Oiei-jo.” Although I believe that he is not far off the mark,
most of it is speculative and should not be taken as fact.
16. His given name was Kichinosuke.
17. Hokusai’s eldest daughter Omiyo also divorced her husband and
returned home to live; however, she died young.
18. Yasuda, “Hokusai no musume,” 33.
19. She may also have taken this name from the popular Otsu-e phrase
“Oji-0i oyaji dono.” The characters which she chose for the name Oi
literally mean “obedient to Tame”; the character tame was used by
Hokusai in one of his names, Tamekazu, and therefore Oi’s selection of
characters for her new name shows her filial respect for her father.
20. Takai said that he guessed Oi to be around sixty at this time. This
event is recorded in Iwasaki Choshi, ed., Takai Kozan den. See Hayashi,
Oei to Eisen, 62-63.

142
Chapter Nine: Waka Poet-Painters in Kyoto

During the nineteenth century, there continued to be women who distinguished

themselves in waka poetry. The Ansei era (1854-1859) represented the second crest of
women’s activities in waka circles, the first having formed in the Horeki era (1751-1763—see
chapter five).! The reasons behind the upsurge of women waka poets during the latter part
of the nineteenth century are manifold. Not only were more women receiving literary
educations by the second half of the century, but attitudes toward women among male waka
poets were changing, paralleling a similar movement within Chinese poetry societies (see
chapter seven). Kagawa Kageki (1768-1843) was the central figure in Kyoto poetic circles
in the first half of the nineteenth century and maintained a major influence until the close of
the century. He had many female pupils, including Takabatake Shikibu (1785-1881) and
Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875). These two women are notable for their painting and
calligraphy as well as waka.
The women waka poets who achieved notoriety at this time were not members of the
Kyoto nobility or upper samurai class; instead they came from the townsmen class or from
lower-ranking samurai families. Although women of the upper strata continued to learn
waka as one of the feminine accomplishments, it is generally felt that their poems are
undistinguished and lacking in creativity. This is also true of the immense quantity of waka
composed by orthodox male court poets, who took their inspiration and vocabulary from
classic anthologies such as the Man’ yéshii, Kokinsha, and Shin Kokinshi. As previously in
the eighteenth century, it was men and women from the middle class who breathed new life
into the age-old waka tradition. Within this segment of society, only those women who
were fortunate to be born to parents with good educations and literary interests were likely
to be given special training in waka. In studying the background of the women in this
exhibition, it has become clear that conditions had to be right in order for women to
develop as poets and artists, the impetus frequently coming from artistic parents or spouses.

Takabatake Shikibu (1785-1881)

Takabatake Shikibu was perhaps fated to become an important figure in the Kyoto
literary world; her given name, Shikibu, is written with the same characters as Murasaki
Shikibu, who centuries earlier had dazzled the Japanese court (and later the world) with her
memorable novel, Genji monogatari. The later Shikibu was the daughter of an Osaka
physician. She loved waka as a child and became a pupil of Kagawa Kageki. Shikibu was
permitted to continue her studies even after her marriage to the Kyoto acupuncturist
Takabatake Kiyone.? Her husband had studied waka? and was supportive of his new wife’s
interests. In addition to waka, Shikibu took lessons in painting, calligraphy, and sculpture,
and also learned to play two musical instruments, the lute (biwa) and a reed instrument
(shd).4 Her extant artworks include many delightful combinations of simplified paintings
and waka, the subject most often being scenes from nature.
Shikibu seems to have shared a blissful life with her husband until his death in 1841.
Her waka teacher, Kageki, died two years later, whereupon she became a pupil of Chigusa
Arikoto (1797-1854). Biographies of Shikibu do not mention any children; as a widow she
was now independent, and she responded by traveling to various provinces in Japan. By her
sixties, Shikibu had become recognized as a multitalented woman. In 1847 she was noted
for her calligraphy, painting, and waka in the Kéto shoga jinmei roku (Record of Famous
Poets and Painters in the Imperial Capital).° Shikibu lived an unusually long life, reaching
the venerable age of ninety-seven. Two collections of her poetry were published during her
lifetime, and a third on the seventeenth anniversary of her death.°®
Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875)
Like Shikibu, Rengetsu was a gifted individual whose skills in waka, calligraphy, and
painting have long been recognized. She is perhaps most well known for her unique pottery
on which she inscribed her poems. She was foremost a poet, but the elegant style of
calligraphy which she developed has led her to be highly appreciated as an artist. In recent
years, many examples of her calligraphy and pottery have appeared in exhibitions and on
the art market, and Japanese today frequently refer to the “Rengetsu boom” which is taking
place. In actuality, the current “boom” was preceded by one occurring over one hundred
years ago, in her own lifetime. Rengetsu was one of the few women artists who attracted a
sizable number of patrons, to the extent that she found it difficult to fulfill all of their
requests.
Why is it that people both then and now have found Rengetsu so compelling? The
fascination appears to stem from her extraordinary life and personality which found subtle
expression in her poetry and art.7 Born in Kyoto in 1791, within a few days of her birth she
was given up by her natural parents and adopted by the Otagaki family, headed by a
samurai’ serving at Chion’in temple. The circumstances of her adoption and the identity of
her biological parents are unclear; there is evidence that her father may have been a samurai
of the Todd? family serving in the domain of Ueno in Iga province (Mie prefecture).
Various opinions exist regarding her mother’s station in life, ranging from a courtesan to the
daughter of a merchant or low-ranking noble.'!° In 1798 the young Rengetsu (whose
childhood name was Nobu), went off to serve the Matsudaira family at Kameoka Castle in
Tanba.!! As noted earlier, a position as lady-in-waiting at one of the many castles in Japan
was considered very prestigious for samurai women. One of the beneficial aspects of such
a post for Rengetsu was that she was surrounded by other cultivated women who devoted
some of their time to artistic pursuits such as poetry and calligraphy. In addition, she
received training in the martial arts of swordsmanship and jujutsu.'?
While Rengetsu was in service at Kameoka Castle, both her stepmother and stepbrother
died, leaving the family with no male heir. Her stepfather thereby followed customary
practice and adopted a son who could later inherit his official post. Rengetsu returned
home to her family in Kyoto in 1807, and in that year at the age of seventeen she was
married to Mochihisa, the young samurai whom her stepfather had adopted.!? In the eight
years following her marriage, Rengetsu bore three children, all of whom died shortly after
birth.'4 She and her husband were separated in 1815, possibly because he was not living up
to her stepfather’s expectations in performing official duties at Chion’in.!5 Mochihisa died
later that year at the age of twenty-six.
Rengetsu’s family again searched for an heir. In 1819, four years after her first
husband’s death, Rengetsu entered into another marriage arranged by her stepfather.'!©
However, her second husband died an untimely death in the year 1823. Although Rengetsu
was only thirty-three years old, she renounced the world, cut her hair, and became a nun.
At this time she adopted the name Rengetsu which means “lotus moon.” Rengetsu’s
stepfather also took Buddhist vows, and together they retired to live in a small building
called Makuzuan within the Chion’in temple complex. They were accompanied by
Rengetsu’s daughter from her second marriage, who died two years later at the age of
seven.'7 Even in an age of many infant deaths, to lose two husbands and all of one’s
children at such a young age was unusually tragic.
Rengetsu and her stepfather lived a quiet, secluded life at the Makuzuan. Since her
stepfather had adopted a third son to assume his position, he no longer had to concern
himself with official duties. In addition to participating in some Buddhist services, he and
Rengetsu passed their time composing waka and playing the board game of go. Obviously,
taking the tonsure did not necessarily imply a life devoted solely to religious duties.
Paradoxically, it allowed Rengetsu the freedom to pursue a life devoted to many arts, and
she followed a path similar to earlier poet-painters such as Chiyo and Kikusha (see chapter
four). When her stepfather died in 1832, Rengetsu was left without financial support!§ so
she moved to the area of Kyoto known as Okazaki, then a famous center for scholars,
poets, and artists. From Rengetsu’s choice of this location we may infer that she was drawn
to a lifestyle allied to the arts.
 Rengetsu’s training in waka began in her childhood when she served as an attendant at
Kameoka Castle. She also learned from her stepfather, who was quite skillful in composing
poetry. There is evidence that Rengetsu may have studied briefly with Ueda Akinari
(1734-1809) while living at Chion’in,!9 but it was not until she moved to Okazaki that she
began to study waka intensively. In 1838 she became a pupil of Kagawa Kageki. After his
death, she studied with Mutobe Yoshika (1806-1863) and remained his pupil for fourteen
years. Rengetsu was also influenced by Kageki’s teacher Ozawa Roan (1723-1801).2° She
never studied with Roan directly since he died when she was a child; however, Rengetsu
revered him and sought out examples of his poetry to study.?!
Rengetsu’s waka is usually described by critics as displaying features of the Keien
school founded by Kageki. Advocating the classical verses from the tenth-century
Kokinshi as models, Kageki also stressed the importance of clear, ordinary language (as
opposed to archaisms). Many of Rengetsu’s waka are improvised scenery descriptions,
containing plays on words and word associations typical of Heian-period poetry. On a
cursory reading her poems may seem conventional, but upon deeper analysis Rengetsu’s
personal character shines through.
Upon moving to Okazaki, Rengetsu may have first tried to make her living as a teacher
of poetry or go, but her reclusive nature forced her to abandon this occupation. She was
apparently a woman of striking physical beauty, and the fact that she was a nun did not
discourage men from making advances toward her. In order to make herself unattractive so
that men would leave her alone, Rengetsu pulled out all of her teeth when she was in her
forties, an example of her great determination and inner strength.
Rengetsu then turned to making pottery to support herself, especially creating utensils
for use in the Chinese-style form of tea drinking known as sencha (Cat. 72 and 73). She
seems to have been self-taught, crafting her pots by hand and adding a personal touch by
incising or inscribing her own waka. The unique quality of her hand-modeled forms and
their union of poetry, calligraphy, and pottery made her wares especially appealing to
scholars and poets. The popularity of Rengetsu’s pottery gradually extended to include
clientele from all walks of life, and avid collectors began to seek her out. As a result of this
unwanted attention, during her forties, fifties, and sixties Rengetsu moved more than thirty
times, reportedly to escape the hoards of customers who beat a path to her door.??
However, she never strayed too far from the Okazaki area, living also near Shogoin,
Kumano Shrine, and in the areas of Nagagyo-ku and Kitashirakawa.
Louise Cort has pointed out that Rengetsu’s popularity was linked in part to her
identity-the fact that she was a woman rather than one of the countless male potters.*? The
success of her pottery also depended heavily on her reputation as a poet. Evidence of the
acclaim which Rengetsu received are the two books of her verse published in her lifetime.
Rengetsu Shikibu nijo waka shi (1868), a compilation of verses by Rengetsu and her poetess
friend Takabatake Shikibu, was followed in 1870 by Ama no karumo, devoted entirely to
waka by Rengetsu, containing more than 300 verses.?4 Another indication of the esteem in
which Rengetsu was held is the fact that her name appeared alongside other distinguished
personalities in the Heian jinbutsu shi (Who’s Who in Kyoto) in the years 1838, 1852, and
1867.25 Rengetsu’s poetry is still honored among present-day Japanese; her verses have
even been included in high school textbooks.7¢
Shikibu and Rengetsu not only joined forces in the book of poetry mentioned above, but
they also did collective artworks on occasion. Several examples remain in which Rengetsu
added a poetic inscription to a painting by Shikibu.?” Since Shikibu lived near Kumano
Shrine,?® they may have first met when Rengetsu was living in that area. Since both were
pupils of Kageki and also calligraphers as well as painters, the two women shared many
interests. Their painting styles are somewhat similar, suggesting that they may have
influenced each other. Rengetsu also associated with other female poets of the day,
including the nun Nomura Boto (1806-1867) and the Kyoto courtesans Ueda Chikako and
Sakuragi.
Another relationship that Rengetsu treasured throughout her life was her friendship with
the young painter Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924). She first came into contact with his family
while living in ShOgoin-mura. She grew to love Tessai as though he were her own son, and
 even tried to adopt him at one point, but his family declined. Around 1850 Tessai became
Rengetsu’s live-in helper, assisting her by transporting clay and taking her ceramics to kilns
to be fired. He accompanied her on some of her moves, watching over Rengetsu like a son
during the last twenty-five years of her life. Tessai later became extremely famous as a
painter, but in these early years he was virtually unknown. He and Rengetsu collaborated
on a number of works, with Tessai doing the painting and Rengetsu adding poetic
inscriptions. Since Rengetsu was a famous personality, his paintings with her poems
suddenly became marketable commodities.2? Rengetsu herself increased her output of
simplified paintings, with Tessai perhaps serving as a stimulus.
Rengetsu discontinued her unsettled lifestyle in 1865 when she moved into a tea hut at
the temple Jinkdin. She had been invited to live there by the abbot Wada Gesshin (also
known as Goézan, 1800-1870), who was a close friend of her brother-in-law Tenmin.
Rengetsu had originally become a nun of Pure Land Buddhism at Chion’in. In her middle
years she lived for a time at various Kyoto temples, but was not connected with them in a
formal way. She associated with Tendai as well as Zen monks, indicating that she did not
exclusively adhere to only one form of Buddhism.?° In her later years at Jinkoin, Rengetsu
entered into Shingon practices and for the first time deeply immersed herself in the study of
Buddhism. Nevertheless, she continued to be prolific in painting, calligraphy, and pottery
until her death.
Throughout her life, Rengetsu cared little about money and sold her calligraphy and
pottery very cheaply. She wore plain clothes and ate simple foods, avoiding meat. Having
compassion for those less fortunate, she gave untiringly of her time and money.?! Tessai
painted an evocative portrait of her in her later years, with Rengetsu seated in her studio,
writing out a poem on a tanzaku (Figure 15). To her left are an inkstone, water dropper, and
wooden stand for making pottery. Tessai’s tenuous yet delicate brushwork defining
Rengetsu’s withered form conveys the fragility of her advanced years. Yet the intensity of
Rengetsu’s gaze and the confident way she grasps her brush expresses what has been
described as an “indisputable quality of wizened toughness.”32 This same combination of
delicacy and strength is present in her unique style of calligraphy.
Even if there had not been a surge in interest among art collectors, Rengetsu would still
be remembered in Japan, for she is honored every year during the “Jidai Matsuri.” One of
the highlights of this festival is the parade with people dressed in costumes representing
famous Kyoto personalities, one of whom is Rengetsu. The extraordinary strength and
grace of her personality, which can be seen in the most modest of her artworks, made her
one of the outstanding women in Japanese history.

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146
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67. Takabatake Shikibu (1785-1881) gray ink, employing darker ink sparingly for accents. Her
Autumn Waka poem-painting, done at age seventy-seven, has an
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 34 x 49 cm. astringent quality which masterfully evokes the dessicated
Signature: Nanajunana 0 Shikibu scenery of autumn.
Muboan Collection

Uraraka ni In the calm weather

Kasumu koharu no Of a hazy autumn,
Yu hikage In the evening light,
Hana ni wakareshi The geese, who left with [spring]
Kari wa ki ni keri blossoms,
Have once again returned.
Shikibu brought visual life to this poignant, autumnal
verse by adding a sketchlike, suggestive painting to the left
of her calligraphy. A flock of geese descends over the
water and hills, its diagonal flying formation
counterbalancing the oblique orientation of the staggered
lines of writing. A peaceful, flowing movement
predominates; the smooth curves of the birds’ wings are
echoed in both the rippling water and the fluid calligraphy.
Shikibu rendered both image and poem primarily with dry,
 68. Takabatake Shikibu
Bamboo
Hanging scroll, ink on paper, 125 x 30 cm.
Signature: Hachijihachi 0 Shikibu
Seal: undecipherable
Muboan Collection

The subject Shikibu most often painted was bamboo,

usually confining it to the lower part of the composition as
seen here. Although simply rendered, her unique
combination of dry and wet brushstrokes imbues this plant
with a tangible quality. Since bamboo connotes longevity
and endurance, it was especially suitable for an artist to
brush in his or her later years; above her signature, Shikibu
recorded that she was eighty-eight years old.
The accompanying waka alludes to the symbolism of
bamboo. Shikibu has written out the verse in two columns
of characters, beautifully positioned so that they are evenly
balanced with the bamboo. The long vertical thrusts of the
strings of calligraphy are echoed by the stalk of bamboo at
the left. Her writing has a rough vigor, displaying
irregular rhythms created through alternating heavily inked
characters with drier, more slender linework. The poem
reads:
Mononofu no Let us plant [bamboo]
Migiri ni uemu in a warrior’s garden.
Yumi ni nare May you become bows,
Ya ni nare chiyono May you become arrrows—
Take no hitomura — Clumps of bamboo of ten thousand
years.

148
69. Otagaki Rengetsu (1791-1875) Spring Moon Over the River is one of Rengetsu’s
Spring Moon Over the River earliest poem-paintings. It is not dated,*+ but the style of
Hanging scroll, ink on paper; 30.5 x 33 cm. writing suggests that it may have been done during her late
Signature: Rengetsu forties or fifties.3° At this stage, Rengetsu’s mature
Private collection calligraphy style was not yet fully developed. Compared
with the exhilarating freedom and openness of her later
work, the characters are more tightly composed, with very
little empty space between the lines forming them or
between individual characters.
By the time she reached her late forties, Rengetsu had
Rengetsu divided the lines of the poem (three on the
deeply immersed herself in the study of waka; upon
right and two on the left) in order to leave space for the
request she would write out verses in gossamer calligraphy.
moon which rises up between them. The round shape of
At some point she also began to do paintings to
the full moon is formed by the white paper left after
accompany her poems, with image and text
Rengetsu defined its outer rim with a curving band of ink
complementing one another. For the subject matter and
wash.3© The painting is so simple that it is easy to ignore
style of her paintings, Rengetsu drew upon the Shijo
the skillful manner in which Rengetsu brushed on more
tradition first developed by Goshun (1752-1811). Sources
washes to partly obscure the lower half of the moon, giving
differ as to whether she studied with Nakajima Raisho
the effect of vaporous clouds. This eloquent image is
(1796-1871) or Matsumura Keibun (1779-1843),33 both
enhanced by the accompanying waka originally composed
well-known masters of this school. The Shijo style is
while making the journey by boat down the Yodo River to
characterized by soft washes of ink and pastel colors,
Naniwa (Osaka).37
combined with gently applied lyrical brushwork. Favored
subjects were figures, birds and flowers, and rural Japanese Naniwa e ya Naniwa Bay—
Kasumi mo nami no As the night is deepening,
landscapes. This tradition struck a responsive chord in the Sokohakato Through the mist and waves,
hearts of Kyoto’s middle class, and remained popular Waka de fuke yuku Not clearly distinguishable
throughout the nineteenth century. Oboro yo no tsuki The hazy evening moon.

149
 “Sending a Congratulatory Bamboo” and reads:
Kono kimi wa This gentleman
Medetaki fushi o Continually putting forth
Kasanetsutsu Auspicious new growth
Sue no yo no nagaki Forms a model for
Tameshi narikeri Longevity far into the future.
Many of the words have double meanings, referring to both
the bamboo and the recipient. For example Kono kimi can
be “this gentleman’38 or the bamboo, as well as “you” or
the person to whom the poem-painting was sent.
Additionally, fushi can refer to the joints or nodes of the
bamboo or good luck. Thus the bamboo continually
putting forth new shoots alludes to a person “piling up”
good fortune. Rengetsu expresses the wish that the scroll’s
recipient be blessed with a long and productive life.
Rengetsu’s poetic inscription, written at age seventy-
six, represents the mature style of calligraphy formulated
in her sixties. In comparison with Cat. 69, the characters
are simplified with larger open spaces within them.
Written with a horizontal emphasis, fewer characters are
linked together, making the poem easier to read. In
general the lines are even in width, exhibiting only a very
subtle thickening and thinning. Although delicate and
restrained, Rengetsu’s brushwork is packed with inner
tension, often described as resembling a coiled spring.
Rengetsu did several paintings of bamboo, usually
inscribed with the same poem.3? The method and style of
brushing the leaves and culms in the Burke painting is
consistent with all of the other examples. Since the
majority of Rengetsu’s works are on paper, the fact that she
utilized silk here may indicate that Bamboo was a special
commission. Silk absorbs the ink differently from paper,
resulting in less crisp lines and fuzzing along the edges of
brushstrokes. Rengetsu has utilized this effect to create a
soft, misty atmosphere.
Poem and painting are masterfully balanced. The
vertical movement of the bamboo stalks springing up along
the lefthand side of the picture plane is stabilized by the
horizontal extension of some of the smaller stems and
leaves. The longest stem curving inward to the right,
rendered with fuzzy gray ink tones, defines an empty space
70. Otagaki Rengetsu perfect in size for Rengetsu’s poem. As always, she kept
Bamboo in mind the overall compositional design when adding an
Hanging scroll, ink on silk, 88.9 x 49.9 cm. inscription, here deliberately arranging the beginning
Signature: Rengetsu nanajurokusai characters of each line so that they form a gentle diagonal,
The Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation
continuing the circular movement begun by the stalk of
Published: Tokyo National Museum, A Selection of Japanese
bamboo reaching inward.
Art from the Mary and Jackson Burke Collection (Tokyo:
1985), no. 79.

A large number of the subjects which Rengetsu

painted have auspicious meanings, indicating that they
were done as gifts; Bamboo was probably presented to a
friend in celebration of the new year. The waka appears in
her anthology of poetry Ama no karumo with the title

150
71. Otagaki Rengetsu the triangle is formed by her signature. This diagonal is
Cuckoo echoed in the shape of the moon and counterbalanced by
Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on paper, the placement of the bird, whose outspread wings
Ole exe4 97cm transform it into a miniature triangle. Thus movement is
Signature: Rengetsu implied from both directions, with the calligraphy flowing
Private collection down from the right corner and the cuckoo swooping down
Published: Fister, “Otagaki Rengetsu,” Calligraphy Idea from the left. Rengetsu has strategically employed empty
Exchange, fig. 6; Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, no. 58.
space so that image and text balance but do not collide
with one another.
The ink washes describing the bird and moon display
Rengetsu’s knowledge of Shijo school techniques. Over
The cuckoo is one of the rare birds that sings as it the light gray washes she has sparingly applied dark ink to
flies. Here one can almost hear the cuckoo’s melodious define the cuckoo’s head and feathers, and added a barely
cry as it passes by a partially clouded moon. Rengetsu’s perceptible yellow wash to color its beak and legs. The
waka inscription evokes the eternal quality of rural Japan’s resulting image is imbued with the same simplicity, yet
villages, punctuated only by the cycle of the seasons.4° subtle richness of imagery that one finds in her poetry.
Rengetsu’s calligraphy in this work represents her
Itsu to naki In the timelessness
Tokiwa no sato wa Of my unchanging native village, mature style, and judging from the signature it may have
Hototogisu The faintly heard cry been done when she was around the age of seventy. In
Shinobu hatsune ni Of the cuckoo analyzing Rengetsu’s unique manner of writing, there is no
Uzuki o ya shiru Tells us that summer is here. question that the spirit of the artist is communicated
Rengetsu displays her innate sense of design in the through the traces of the brush. Her tensile lines are freely
arrangement of the poem, cuckoo, and moon in this work. flowing, yet firmly controlled, delicate, yet indomitable.
Although she has written the poem out in five columns, Despite the fact that the line width remains relatively
they do not reflect the waka format of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables. consistent, Rengetsu has infused her characters with
Instead, she has made the columns conform to her own sprightly movement and dancelike rhythms. She merges a
compositional scheme, staggering the beginning characters sophisticated sense of elegance with a childlike simplicity.
in order to create a triangular shape. The bottom left tip of The result is pure and refreshing.
 steeped in boiled water. In Rengetsu’s day the ceremony
was usually an informal one, often held in a garden or
natural setting. Rather than ritualized movements and
gestures, a relaxed atmosphere prevailed. The tea cups and
serving vessels were small in comparison to those used in
cha-no-yu. To use the teapot by Rengetsu illustrated here
for sencha, tea leaves were placed inside, boiled water
poured over them, and the leaves steeped for the
appropriate amount of time.
During the early stages of its introduction to Japan,
sencha enthusiasts often utilized imported Chinese wares.
In time, ceramics of local manufacture were
commissioned, and since Kyoto was the center of the
sencha cult, Kyoto kilns came to furnish the wares. Aoki
Mokubei (1767-1833) was famous for producing ceramics
in the Chinese style, but sencha utensils made by amateurs
like Rengetsu were also admired for their simple, rustic
character. Rengetsu added a further personal touch to her
pottery by inscribing or incising her waka, and the
resulting union of poetry, calligraphy, and pottery made her
wares especially appealing to scholars active in sencha
72. Otagaki Rengetsu
circles.4>
Kyasu (Small teapot)
The teapot (kyisu) illustrated here is exemplary of
Pottery, 5.7 cm.
Signature: Rengetsu (outer box signed “Rakuto Rengetsu”)
Rengetsu’s sencha wares. In terms of materials her pieces
Private collection are typical of many Awata (or other Kyoto) wares;
Published: Fister, “Otagaki Rengetsu,” Calligraphy Idea Rengetsu’s originality lies in her sense of hand-modeled
Exchange, fig. 2; Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, no. 149. form and her use of poetic inscriptions. She created this
small pot using the coil method, and one can still feel the
impressions that Rengetsu’s fingers made on the thin inner
and outer walls as she smoothed out the surface of the clay.
After moving to Okazaki, Rengetsu began to make Both the inner and outer surfaces were covered with a clear
pottery in order to support herself. Her hermetic character glaze and fired to a warm, earthy tan color. Light
may have led her to adopt this trade because it was crackling in the glaze is evident, creating a delicately
something which she could do in privacy. Although an textured background for the calligraphy and painting. For
amateur, she acquired enough skill to create small vessels decoration, Rengetsu painted a few cherry blossoms with
by hand and to glaze them. Rengetsu drew upon the iron pigment near the pouring spout and one petal on the
resources of ceramic workshops in the Awata district in lid; she then inscribed a waka which became one of her
eastern Kyoto, both for raw materials and for firing her most famous:
finished pieces.*! The fact that she took advantage of the Yado kasanu Refused at the inn—
facilities offered by major workshops (huge wood-fired Hito no tsurasa o But I took this unkindness
kilns as well as clay and glaze processors and supplies) Nasake nite AS a gracious act;
Oborozuki yo no Under the hazy evening moon
was not uncommon; Rengetsu belongs to a long line of
Hana no shita bushi*© I slept beneath blossoms.
amateur potters who relied on the technical assistance of
professional pottery workshops.42 Her calligraphy wraps comfortably around the vessel,
More than half of the ceramics Rengetsu made were taking up most of the available space. Because the surface
for use in drinking the steeped tea known as sencha.*3 was limited, Rengetsu began new lines after writing only
This form of tea became extremely popular in Japan during two or three characters. Rengetsu’s calligraphy style
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries after being seems to have been influenced by the short, broad ceramic
introduced from China.“ Since the drinking of sencha surfaces she frequently wrote upon. Not only did her
was one of many literati pursuits in China, it came to be individual characters gradually assume horizontal shapes,
appreciated by Japanese bunjin who identified it with but even when writing on paper or adding inscriptions to
Chinese learning and arts. paintings she regularly arranged the lines of her poems so
The method of presentation of sencha is distinctly that they spread laterally. Judging from her signature and
different from the classical Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no- writing style, this teapot was created when she was around
yu) which utilizes a powdered green tea called matcha. the age of seventy.
Instead, sencha is made from dried tea leaves which are

152
73. Otagaki Rengetsu Rengetsu and with her permission adopted the title
Five Sencha Cups Rengetsu II.
Pottery, each 4.1 x 6.5 cm. The waka on the Burke cups were incised with a sharp
Signatures: Rengetsu bamboo tool. The clay exposed by the incised lines took
The Mary and Jackson Burke Collection on a slightly darker color when fired, causing the poems to
stand out from the milky glazed background. Rengetsu
may have started to incise her poems because the clay
surface absorbed water so quickly that writing with a brush
was sometimes difficult. Among her extant ceramics,
Sets of cups and dishes in Japan usually comprise five those with incised poems outnumber those with inscribed
pieces, showing the culture’s preference for irregular ones. This set of cups is remarkable for the graceful way
numbers. The Burke set exhibits a motif appearing in in which the calligraphy interplays with the veins of the
many of Rengetsu’s ceramics, that of the lotus leaf lotus leaf motifs. The five waka are as follows:54
wrapped around individual cups. Upon examining the Yo no naka ni Out into the world
bottom of the cups, it appears that she used molds to stamp Natsu wa nagarete The summer has already flowed—
portions of this design. The lotus was appropriate for Ide tsuramu Solitary and cool
Rengetsu because of its importance as a Buddhist symbol47 Hitori suzushiki Is the water running
Yama no shita mizu At the foot of the mountain.
as well as its connection to her name, meaning “lotus
moon.” Most scholars believe this lotus motif was Chidori naku Plovers cry out
developed for Rengetsu by her friend and helper, Kuroda Kamogawa tsutsumi From the banks of the Kamo River.
Tsuki fukete While the moon waxes
Kory6.48 Sode ni oboyuru I feel the first frost of the night
It is not clear as to exactly when Rengetsu teamed up Yowa no hatsushimo Dampening my sleeves.
with Kuroda, but certainly by the time she was in her late
Yo no naka ni In this world
sixties. They may have met while both were living near Mi no nariidete There are certain forms
the Kumano Shrine.*9 Kuroda began as a pupil of Omou koto Which bring [welcome] thoughts to mind.
Rengetsu, but eventually he surpassed his teacher’s skills in Nasu wa medetaki The eggplant serves as
pottery and created more sophisticated and complex wares. Tameshi narikeri A symbol of happiness.
Numerous letters remain from Rengetsu to Kuroda proving Ukarekite Fluttering merrily and
that he assisted her in meeting the large demand for her Hana no tsuyu ni Sleeping amidst the
pottery.°° Sometimes he made the pots and Rengetsu Neburu nari Dew on the flowers-
Kohata ga yume no Might it be the butterfly of
would incise or inscribe her waka, but at other times she
Kocho naruran Chuang Tzu’s dream?
asked Kuroda to add the poems as well.>! This presents
Tazunekite More unkind than the
grave problems in terms of establishing the authenticity of
Mishi hana yori mo [Evanescent] blossoms which
Rengetsu’s works, for Kuroda imitated Rengetsu’s style of Tsurenaki wa I had searched out to see
writing so well that his works are virtually Haru no shiori no Is the sign that spring has passed-
indistinguishable from hers.°* He eventually succeeded Yama hototogisu The mountain cuckoo.

IS3
74. Otagaki Rengetsu 75. Otagaki Rengetsu
Lotus Cup Mizusashi (Water jar)
Pottery, 9.2 cm. Pottery, 17.4 x 11 cm.
Signature: Rengetsu Signature: Rengetsu
Shoka Collection Yanagi Takashi Collection
Published: Fister, “Otagaki Rengetsu,” Calligraphy Idea
Exchange, fig. 3; Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, no. 5.

This cup bears a lotus leaf design similar to the set of This type of jar is used for storing fresh, cool water;
sencha cups in Cat. 73. However, in addition to being during the traditional Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no-yu) a
taller, its foot has been designed to simulate the stem of a host ladles water from a mizusashi into a kettle for boiling.
lotus plant. The function of this cup is not clear; it might Displaying a majestic robust shape, this mizusashi was
have been used for serving a special type of food. It merits made with Shigaraki°> clay fired to a lustrous, burnished
special attention because of the artful way the lotus leaf rust color. Although the upper surface is covered with tiny
motif is employed in the overall design, with veins flecks of natural ash glaze, allover glazing was avoided in
extending up the sides of the cup, and also for the order to reveal the rich color of the clay.
marvelous glaze melting from a creamy gray into a light The profile of the pot is greatly enhanced by the
shade of salmon. Its surface is smooth and glossy, broken addition of lotus motifs. The lid was made in the shape of
only by the veins of the leaves which are palpable to the a lotus leaf, and around the shoulder of the jar, lotus stems
touch. The surface is further enriched by Rengetsu’s were appended which ingeniously form two handles.5°
threadlike calligraphy written with iron pigment directly on The flowing movement of the long stems which encircle
the clay surface. The slightly misshapen form embodies the jar conforms beautifully to the shape of the vessel.
the Japanese aesthetic of the imperfect, admired because its Rengetsu echoed this rising and falling rhythm when she
individual character communicates the spirit of the artist. incised the following waka.
Rengetsu has amplified the sense of intimacy by inscribing Tsumagoto no Like a zither, plucked
a waka entitled “Yearning for Autumn.”’54 Richi no shirabe ni To create rhythms and melodies—
Uchitokete Even for lovers, Kayo hikite At the eaves of my house
Itsuka wa hito o Just as for the cedar trees Koe omoshiroki The evocative voice of the wind
Miwa no yama On Mount Miwa, Noki no matsukaze>” Sings in the pines.
Shirushi no sugi mo The autumn wind
Akikaze zo fuku Will someday blow cold.

154
76. Otagaki Rengetsu
Chashaku (Tea scoop)
Bamboo, 17.7 cm.
Signature (on box): Rengetsu nanajunana
Private collection
Published: Kyoto Furitsu Sogo Shirydkan, Otagaki
Rengetsu: Bakumatsu joryit kajin no shoga to togei,
no. 130.

This chashaku was crafted from bamboo by Rengetsu

to be used during the tea ceremony to transfer small
amounts of powdered tea from a small jar into the tea
bowl.>8 It is common for tea enthusiasts to name utensils
which they especially prized: Rengetsu gave this chashaku
the auspicious name of Matsu (Pine), inscribing the
character on the wooden cylinder which serves as its
box.°? The pine motif is further developed in the poem she
added to lid of the larger container in which the chashaku
is stored.
Harugoto ni Each spring,
Midori sohitsuhitsu Putting forth new greenery
Iku chiyo ka For many thousand years-
Yo ni suminoe no In this world, Sumiyoshi
Matsu zo hishiki Pines have long endured.
This waka appears in the Ama no karumo with the title
““Seventy-seventh Spring,” indicating that it was written by
Rengetsu at that advanced age. The box containing the
“Pine” chashaku was also inscribed in that year. The poem
implies a connection between the enduring pines at
Sumiyoshi and Rengetsu’s own longevity; she was perhaps
marveling at her ability to have withstood so many cold
winters.

155
77. Otagaki Rengetsu while serving at Kameoka Castle as a youth. However, no
Five Tanzaku (Poem sheets) examples of her early works have been preserved, and if
Ink on paper, each about 35 x 6.2 cm. they were, one probably would not be able to recognize
Signatures: Rengetsu, Hachijusai Rengetsu them as by Rengetsu. The standard model for women’s
Private collection calligraphy books in the first half of the nineteenth century
was the O’ie tradition,®! featuring long flowing lines with
dramatic variations in width. Traces of the O’ie style are
apparent in the earliest known examples of Rengetsu’s
Rengetsu’s mature calligraphy style is well-represented calligraphy, tanzaku thought to date from her forties.©
in this set of five tanzaku, two of which were inscribed at Her writing at this stage exhibits continuous variation in
age eighty. The tall, thin format of this type of poem sheet line thickness, little empty space within and between
was favored by the Japanese for writing out the short verse characters, and long strings of characters linked together.®
forms of waka or haiku. Tanzaku paper was often dyed This is distinctly different from Rengetsu’s mature style
beautiful colors and/or decorated with gold and silver exemplified in these five tanzaku.
designs like the examples here. Rengetsu probably wrote Japanese scholars often reiterate that Rengetsu was
out poems on more than one thousand tanzaku, giving influenced by Heian calligraphy, especially that of the
them away to friends as well as receiving orders from the poetess Kodai Kimi (active early eleventh century).
tanzaku shop owner Emi Kohei and the paper shop owner Rengetsu is also said to have followed the calligraphy style
Tanaka Soshin.©° of Reizei (Okada) Tamechika (1823-1864).©+ However, a
Since the style of writing that Rengetsu developed is comparison of Rengetsu’s writing with examples by Kodai
unique, it is difficult to pinpoint her sources. She Kimi and Reizei Tamechika reveals very little in common.
undoubtedly studied calligraphy along with other arts Furthermore, Rengetsu did not follow current fashions,

156
such as the style of the poet Kato Chikage (1735-1808) Misogi (Ablutions)
which was particularly in vogue. Rengetsu was not so Hito no yo mo In this world,
much affected by the calligraphy of those around her as by Ue naka shita to People from all walks of life
her own personality and aesthetic sensibility. Kawa no se ni Go to the shallows of a stream
Kokoro kokoro no And perform ablutions
A more plausible theory accounting for the
Misogi surashimo To purify their minds.
development of Rengetsu’s mature calligraphy style,
Tsuru (Crane)
maintained by several Japanese scholars, is that her
brushwork was influenced by her incising of poetry into Hina tsuru no As I listen to the fledgling crane
Yuku sue to hoki With its long future,
pottery. Certain changes that took place in her brushwork,
Koe kikeba It sings
all leading toward a simpler style and form, can be Miyo o chitose to “The reign of the emperor
explained by technical considerations she developed from Utau narikeri Will last forever.”
incising. For example, Rengetsu began to omit Chinese
characters in favor of kana because the simpler kana
syllabary were easier to incise, and created less excess clay
which had to be cleaned away. In order to make her poems
easier to incise (and read), Rengetsu chose to write
characters individually, leaving generous amounts of space
around the lines; unlike many calligraphers, it is rare to
find her linking more than two or three characters together
in her mature work. Also significant is the relatively
consistent line width employed by Rengetsu in her later
years, which resembles the line quality of her incised
poems. She deliberately moved away from fluctuations in
line thickness, perhaps because she liked the sharp, crisp
lines she achieved through incising. In order to duplicate
this effect in brushwork, Rengetsu used a long brush made
of stiff hair (perhaps from a deer).®>
While many calligraphers struggled to be inventive,
Rengetsu repeatedly used similar kana forms, making her
poems easy to read. In many respects Rengetsu was more
a poet than a calligrapher; just as she led a simple life, so
she did not need an ornate style of writing. Her
calligraphy has an understated elegance and simplicity
which people find attractive. Yet it is full of inner tension
and strength that come from her personal character which
withstood the tragedies of her early life.
From right to left, the waka illustrated here are as
follows:°
Kono me tsumu While the young leaves are being
Nobe ni ochikuru harvested,
Hito koe wa A single voice
Yo o Ujiyama no Descends over the fields—
Hototogisu kana It is the cuckoo
Of the Uji mountains.
Pleasures of an Autumn Night
Tsuyugoto ni While I count
Yadoreru tsukino The moons
Kazukazu o Reflected in
Kazouru hodo ni Each dewdrop,
Yo wa ake ni keri The dawn is breaking.
As people laugh about my constantly changing dwellings ...
Ukikumo no Floating clouds,
Koko ni kashiko ni _ Drifting through the sky
Tadayou no Here and there—
Kiesenu hodo no Until they disappear
Susabi narikeri They seem to be enjoying themselves.

IS
Notes
1. Mori Keizo, “Tokugawa jidai no jorya kajin,” in Miwata Gendo, ed., one by her second), three of which were girls and one was a boy.
Nihon josei bunka shi, vol. 2, 565. However, Rengetsu wrote in a letter to a nun friend that she had borne
2. Kiyone was a retainer to the Chigusa family. Like many three children, two girls and one boy. See Tokuda, Rengetsu-ni no shin
acupuncturists, he was blind. kenkyu, 34-35.
18. Rengetsu may have been able to rely on her adopted stepbrother
3. According to Ichikawa Taro’s Kinsei jorya shodo meika shi den,
Hisaatsu and his wife for support, but she probably did not feel
Kiyone was a pupil of Shibayama Mochitoyo (1741-1815), however, other
comfortable depending upon them. Nevertheless, after she left Chion’in,
sources say that his teacher was a famous poet of the Chigusa family,
perhaps Chigusa Arikoto. See Aida Hanji, Kinsei jorya bunjin den, 207 she kept in close touch with them.
and Mori Keizo, Kinsei joryu kajin no kenkyii, 243. 19. Murakami, Rengetsu-ni zensha, part 2, 31.
20. Born the youngest son of a low-ranking samurai, Roan went to Kyoto
4. Shikibu studied painting with Uragami Shunkin, calligraphy with a
courtier named Niwata, the biwa with Ayanokoji Arinaga, and the sho at a young age and in 1753 became a pupil of Reizei Tamemura. Roan
with Hayashi Kosai. Ichikawa, Kinsei joryu shodo meika shi den, 123. later established his own school, emphasizing the direct and honest
5. Mori Senzo, Kinsei jinmei roku shasei, vol. 3, 249. expression of personal feeling.
6. The three books are Mugi no sha shi (1868) with over 500 waka, 21. In 1851 she spent the summer residing at the temple HOokoji where she
Rengetsu Shikibu nijo waka sha (1868) with forty-nine waka by Rengetsu was able to study directly Roan’s poetry collection entitled the Rakujo
and fifty-six by Shikibu; and Katami no warabi (1897). For further eiso in manuscript form. Later, she went to live at the temple Shinseiji
descriptions, see Joshi Gakushuin, Joryu chosaku kaidai, 24, 58, and 67. near the cemetery where Roan is buried. Most scholars feel that he was
7. The primary sources of information on Rengetsu’s life are her own the single most influential figure in the development of her waka style.
autobiography recorded in a letter to Tomioka Tessai at age eighty-four, 22. Rengetsu once moved thirteen times in one year. There are many
other letters, Kuroda Kory6’s Otagaki Rengetsu rirekisho, and Murakami anecdotes describing the methods she used to discourage visitors: one was
Sod6’s Rengetsu-ni zensha. Murakami actually knew Rengetsu when she to hang a card outside saying “Rengetsu rusu” (Rengetsu is out). Another
was in her eighties while he was serving as a novice at Jinkoin. Other ploy was to have the neighborhood children tell people that she was not at
important publications are Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, Maeda Toshiko, home. Tokuda, Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkyi, 186.
Rengetsu; Sugimoto Hidetaro, Otagaki Rengetsu;, and Tokuda Koen’s two 23. Letter of 14 November, 1986.
books, Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkyu and Otagaki Rengetsu. Sugimoto’s 24. After her death, these were succeeded by the Zoho Rengetsu waka shu
research has shed light on some of the hazy areas of Rengetsu’s (1897), Rengetsu-ni waka shu (1918), Rengetsu-ni no hito to waka (1926),
background. Tokuda is presently the abbot of Jinkoin, the temple where and Rengetsu-ni waka shui (1927). For descriptions of all of these books,
Rengetsu spent the last ten years of her life. He has done extensive see Joshi Gakushtin, Jorya chosaku kaidai, 16, 67-68. For the text of
research on both Rengetsu’s life and art, and his temple owns an Ama no karumo, see Nagasawa Mitsu, ed., Nyonin waka taikei, 498-517.
impressive collection of Rengetsu’s artworks. 25. In addition, she was listed in the 1847 Kdéto shoga jinmei roku as a
8. Named Otagaki Hanzaemon Teruhisa. poet, calligrapher, and painter. See Mori Senzo, vol. 4, 424.
9. Although Murakami wrote that Rengetsu’s father was probably Todo 26. Mori Keizo, “Tokugawa jidai no joryu kajin,” 587.
Kinshichiro, lord of Ueno Castle in Iga (according to the recollections of 27. For illustrations of two collaborative works, see Kyoto Furitsu Sogo
a Kyoto woman whose mother had served the Otagaki family as Shiryokan, Otagaki Rengetsu: Bakumatsu joryu kajin no shoga to togei,
Rengetsu’s wet nurse), recent investigations by Sugimoto Hidetaro nos. 69 and 70.
indicate that her father was Todo Shinshichiro Yoshikiyo (1767-1798), 28. Tessai once drew a map showing where various artists and poets lived;
warden at Ueno Castle. See Sugimoto, Otagaki Rengetsu, 32. Rengetsu Shikibu lived near Kumano Shrine on Marutamachi street. Tokuda,
herself never wrote about her father, but there is evidence that she was Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkyu, 81.
aware of his identity. Sugimoto discovered that Rengetsu visited 29. The present-day Tomioka family still has paper with inscriptions by
Yoshikiyo’s grave in Ueno several times between 1848 and 1861, and that Rengetsu which were apparently waiting for Tessai to add paintings.
she entrusted a local merchant with arranging Buddhist services at the Tokuda Koen, “Rengetsu no tokoku to shofu,” Oragaki Rengetsu, 236.
New Year and during the midsummer Bon festival for the dead. 30. Tokuda, Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkyi, 164.
Sugimoto, 37-44. 31. In 1866 she collaborated with Wada Gozan to raise money to feed
10. According to Kuroda’s biography, her mother later married a samurai people during a famine. Together they created one thousand works
in Kameoka fief in Tanba. If this is true, then it is unlikely that she was a (paintings by Gozan with poetic inscriptions by Rengetsu) which were
courtesan. then sold by the famous paper shop Kyikyod6. Sugimoto, Otagaki
11. According to some sources, Kameoka Castle is where her mother had Rengetsu, 225. The owner of Kyukyodo, Kumagai Naotaka, was one of
gone to live, but it is unclear if Rengetsu had any contact with her or not. the most important art patrons of the day. He also supported her friend
12. There are several anecdotes regarding Rengetsu’s mastery of the art of Tessai and the woman poet-painter Cho Koran (see chapter seven).
self-defense. Once when she and another girl were accosted by a group of 32. Melinda Takeuchi, Poem Paintings (London, 1977), 22.
drunken men while taking a walk, Rengetsu reportedly singlehandedly 33. Keibun was the younger brother of Goshun, founder of the Shijo
threw one of them to the ground. Sugimoto, Otagaki Rengetsu, 55. school. Tessai’s grandson reported Tessai as saying that Rengetsu studied
13. Originally named Tenzo, the fourth son of Oka (Tainosho) Ginzaemon painting with Keibun, and that they fell in love and lived together.
from Hyogo prefecture. Upon adoption into the Otagaki family his naine Tokuda Koen, “Bannen shokan ni miru Rengetsu,” Rengetsu, 197.
was changed to Mochihisa. 34. Rengetsu did not begin to add her age to her signature until she was
14. Rengetsu may have had another son named Saiji who went to live with seventy-two.
her husband’s family after they separated. Some scholars theorize that 35. The signature is comparable to two other early ones in the chart in
upon Mochihisa’s death, Saiji was adopted by his uncle Tenmin. When Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, 237 and Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, 218.
divorces occurred, it was common for eldest sons to go live with their Like other early signatures, the grass radical of the character ren is quite
father’s family, and for girls to stay with their mothers. See Murai distinct, and the character for moon (getsu) is elongated. The general
Yasuhiko, “Rengetsu-ni,” in Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, 158-159. calligraphy style of the waka resembles several tanzaku believed to date
15. Some sources recount that Mochihisa was a playboy, and that he beat from Rengetsu’s forties or fifties. See Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, 214 and
Rengetsu and did not heed his father-in-law’s warnings to mend his ways. 223; Koresawa, Rengetsu, 218; Maeda, Rengetsu, nos. 41-45. Most
However, extant letters from Rengetsu to her brother-in-law after scholars believe that Rengetsu did not begin painting until her sixties, but
Mochihisa’s death show her fondness for this first husband, suggesting Spring Moon seems to indicate otherwise.
that their separation may have been due more to conflict with her 36. For another moon painting by Rengetsu, see Tokuda, Otagaki
stepfather than conjugal problems. See Maeda, Rengetsu, 58. Rengetsu, no. 197.
16. This second husband, from Hikone, was originally named Ishikawa 37. This verse is included in a collection of Rengetsu’s poems entitled Shai.
Chojiro. Upon adoption he was given the name Hisatoshi. 38. Bamboo was designated as a “gentleman” because certain qualities it
17. Rengetsu may have been pregnant at the time of her second husband’s embodied such as endurance (staying green all winter along) and
death, giving birth to a son who died five years later. Maeda, Rengetsu, flexibility (bending with the wind but not breaking) were likened to those
61. There is a great deal of confusion as to how many children Rengetsu admired in venerable scholars. The “four gentlemen” of East Asian art
actually bore. According to Tomioka Tessai and Rengetsu’s brother-in-law are bamboo, plum, orchid, and chrysanthemum.
Tenmin, she had six children, all of whom died at a young age. Other 39. For illustrations, see Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, no. 196; Koresawa,
records indicate that she had four children (three by her first husband, and et al., Rengetsu, nos. 43, 117, and 145.

158
40. This poem is included in the Ama no karumo. calligraphy style into three stages, with the work of her forties
41. The districts of Awata, Awataguchi, Kiyomizuzaka, and Gojozaka representing the first (urana jidai). At this time she always added her
were major pottery centers in Rengetsu’s day. According to Kuroda’s signature on the verso of the tanzaku. During the second stage (omotena
biography, Rengetsu took her pottery to the kilns of Sanjo Taizan Yohei, Jidai) which lasted from her fifties to her seventies, she began to sign her
Gojo Kiyomizu Rokubei, and later Shimo Kawabara Kuroda. From her name on the front of tanzaku, and gradually formulated the gossamer
letters we know that she also used the kilns of Kink6ézan and Hozan, style for which she is celebrated. The third and final stage (saishomei
being especially fond of Kinkozan. See Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, 217. Jidai) is represented by works dated from the age of seventy-four.
42. Beginning perhaps with Hon’ami Kéetsu (1558-1637) and his 64. Koresawa Kyozo, “Rengetsu-ni no sho,” Rengetsu, 220.
connection to Raku Donyt (1599-1656). 65. Maeda Toshiko, “Rengetsu-ni,” Nihon bijutsu kégei, no. 399, 65.
43. Rengetsu may have first been introduced to sencha by Ueda Akinari, 66. The first, fourth and fifth waka can be found in the Ama no karumo,
one of the leaders of the sencha movement in Japan who published several while the third appears in Shui.
books on the subject.
44. For a general overview of the history of sencha in Japan, see Patricia
J. Graham, “Sencha (Steeped Tea) and Its Contribution to the Spread of
Chinese Literati Culture in Edo Period Japan,” Oriental Art, vol. 31,
no. 2 (Summer 1985), 186-195.
45. Rengetsu was not the first to inscribe poems on her pottery. She may
well have been inspired by the work of Kyoto potters such as Ogata
Kenzan (1663-1743) and Aoki Mokubei.
46. This waka appears in the Ama no karumo with the title “A Flower
Viewing Excursion.” It was clearly one of her favorite poems, as she
inscribed the same verse on other teapots and on paintings of cherry
blossoms. See Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, nos. 45, 48, 93, 123, 192, and
193,
47. Because it grows up from the mud at the bottom of ponds and opens
into a beautiful flower, in Buddhism the lotus came to symbolize the
struggle of mankind striving for enlightenment. Buddhist deities are
often shown holding lotus flowers or seated on pedestals formed by lotus
petals.
48. Mitsuoka Tadanari, “Rengetsu-ni no togei,” in Koresawa, et al.,
Rengetsu, 202. Present-day descendants of Kuroda living at Jorakuji in
Kyoto still own molds with lotus designs which they believe were used by
Kuroda. This information came from Karen Gerhart who visited them in
March 1986.
49. Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, 218. Kuroda was originally from Omi
province and came to Kyoto around 1858.
50. The letters frequently include a list of the types and quantity of wares
Rengetsu was requesting him to make for her. Murai Yasuhiko,
“Rengetsu-ni,” in Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, 170-171. Another person
who helped Rengetsu to fill pottery orders in her late years was Yoshida
Yasu, the wife of a Kyoto farmer.
51. A letter exists from Rengetsu to Kuroda asking him to incise the
poems for her on a particular batch of pottery. Tokuda, Otagaki
Rengetsu, 219, and Mitsuoka Tadanari, “Rengetsu-ni no togei,” 210.
52. In some cases it is clear that Kuroda made the pottery because he
impressed his seal; however, the question remains as to who added the
poetic inscriptions signed “Rengetsu.” For examples of Kuroda’s pottery
and calligraphy, see Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu, 218-219. Rengetsu’s style
of pottery became so famous that unauthorized imitations appeared as
early as 1860. Anecdotes relate that some copyists even brought their
pots to Rengetsu to inscribe because they were unable to reproduce her
calligraphy successfully. Because she felt sorry for these people who
were struggling to make a living Rengetsu would oblige. Tokuda,
Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkya, 59.
53. The first poem appears in Shai and the following four in Ama no
karumo.
54. Included in the Ama no karumo.
55. Louise Cort has noted that it may be the Shigaraki-type clay which
was widely used in Kyoto workshops to achieve certain effects.
56. The conception and execution of this mizusashi is so sophisticated
that it seems likely that it was made by Kuroda, even though he did not
impress his seal.
57. This waka is included in Rengetsu’s Ama no karumo, and is entitled
“Wind Passes Through the Pines and Enters the Blinds.”
58. There is a long tradition in Japan of tea practitioners carving their
own chashaku. Although there are professional chashaku craftsmen,
those made by tea people are especially prized.
59. Rengetsu is also believed to have made this wooden container.
60. Murai Yasuhiko, “Rengetsu-ni,” in Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, 171.
61. Also known as the Shoren’in school, founded by Prince Son’en
(1298-1356) in Kyoto.
62. See Koresawa, et al., Rengetsu, 218 and Tokuda, Otagaki Rengetsu,
no. 252.
63. Rengetsu also utilized many hentaigana in her earliest known
calligraphy. Japanese scholars divide the evolution of Rengetsu’s

159
 Chapter Ten: Ear ly Meiji-period B unjin

The late nineteenth century witnessed Japan’s dramatic metamorphosis from a semi-
feudal to a modern state, generating changes in the art world and in the status of women
artists. Following the political revolution culminating in the Meiji Restoration (named after
the Emperor Meiji who ascended the throne in 1868), the feudal system was abolished,
resulting in the dissolution of the samurai class and the establishment of basic legal
equalities for all people. A large number of artists employed by samurai and noble families
suddenly found themselves without stipends, and many were forced into other occupations.
The Kano and Tosa schools suffered the most from the elimination of the old class system,
and there are many tragic stories about the destitute lives that talented artists were forced to
lead. One of the few painting traditions that continued to flourish in the early years of the
Restoration, however, was bunjinga.
The primary reason for the endurance of literati painting was that it was favored by
many of the leaders of the new Meiji government, the majority of whom had classical
Chinese educations. They had consequently developed an appreciation for bunjinga and the
philosophy that underlay it. In the Edo period, bunjin artists had come to depend upon a
broader base of patronage than the official Kano and Tosa schools, encompassing people
from all classes. The bunjin/patron relationship was frequently a very personal one, and
therefore when the class system was abandoned, associations between artist and patron were
unaffected.
In time, however, the transformation taking place in the art world began to affect the
popularity of bunjinga. Seeking to modernize Japan, the Meiji government encouraged the
importation of Western technology and culture, resulting in the introduction of Western art
techniques and designs which captured the interest of forward-looking artists. The growing
fascination with Western oil painting subsequently stimulated a reactionary movement led
by the American Ernest Fenollosa (1853-1908). A Harvard graduate who was invited to
Japan in 1879 to teach Western philosophy and economics at Tokyo University, he was
distressed at the Japanese’ infatuation with Western art. Fenollosa lectured passionately on
the importance and beauty of traditional Japanese art, trying to open the Japanese’ eyes to
the necessity of preserving their heritage. He even went so far as to argue the superiority of
Japanese painting over Western oil painting, imploring artists not to abandon native ideals
by adopting Western art methods and aesthetics. Fenollosa wielded so much influence that
at first Western-style painting seemed to be in jeopardy. He encouraged artists to develop a
style representing modern Japan (which came to be called nihonga), blending stylistic
elements from traditional schools. Fenollosa had strong prejudices for the kinds of
Japanese art to be emulated; he was openly critical of bunjinga because of its Chinese
origins and Sinophile form of expression. By the end of the nineteenth century, Western oil
painting and nihonga had emerged as the two most viable pictorial arts. Interest in
bunjinga consequently began to wane during the late 1880s as young artists adopted one or
the other of the “modern” styles of painting. The reputations of well-established bunjin
artists remained intact, but their paintings were now considered conservative and old-
fashioned.
Although support for literati painting gradually declined during the late nineteenth
century, the status of women was rising. Among the avid supporters of women’s rights in
the early Meiji period were the education minister Mori Arinori and the famous educator
Fukuzawa Yukichi. Through their writings and activities, educational opportunities for
women expanded. A law making compulsory elementary education apply to both sexes was
put into effect in 1872, and the government also established several girls’ schools devoted to
secondary education.' At the instigation of Mori, the Japanese government sent five girls to
the United States in 1871 to study; Mori promoted the need to educate women in order to
make the best use of their talents in the challenge of the new age. Two years after the

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compulsory education system was instituted, the Tokyo Normal School for Women was
established with the purpose of training girls as teachers. The number of schools for the
training of women teachers steadily increased, providing females with opportunities to enter
a profession that had an acknowledged intellectual and social standing. Women moved into
other professions more slowly: in 1900, a female doctor named Yoshioka Yayoi opened the
first Japanese medical school for women, and in the following year, Japan’s first college for
women was founded.
Better educational opportunities gave rise to a new age in women’s literature, the most
famous Meiji female writer being Higuchi Ichiy6 (1872-1896).2, By the middle of the Meiji
period, women’s magazines such as the Jogaku zasshi (Magazine for Women’s Learning)?
were coming into existence. As time went by, some women writers began to express strong
social concerns.
A few Japanese had absorbed liberal ideals from the West and campaigned for women’s
suffrage and other rights in the early Meiji period. However, the securing of equal rights
for women in areas outside of public education proceeded slowly. Around the start of the
Taisho period (1912-1926), the stirrings of feminist thought had begun among a small circle
of women intellectuals; the earliest feminist group was the Seitosha (Bluestocking Society)
which was established in 1911. Most progressive women were products of the higher
education for women that had begun at the turn of the century.
Two women, Okuhara Seiko and Noguchi Shohin, lived into the Meiji era and ranked
among the most celebrated bunjinga artists of their time. Neither had husbands nor fathers
who were painters, indicating that the art world had more fully opened its doors to women.
Painting was recognized as their profession, not just a female pastime. These two artists
were fortunate to have had enlightened parents who encouraged their daughters’ artistic
talents and helped them to develop careers. They both received the patronage and support
of one of the leading spokesmen for the new Meiji government, Kido Takayoshi
(1833-1877). Judging from Kido’s diary, he treated Seiko and Shohin with the same respect
and cordiality that he extended to his male friends. Both artists participated in domestic
exhibitions, and Shohin also submitted paintings to World Expositions, a practice that was
clearly borrowed from the West. Although the two women still concentrated on landscapes
and the plant subjects which had traditionally formed the literati repertoire, they
experimented tentatively with Western pictorial techniques. As a result, many of their
paintings have a more naturalistic quality than earlier bunjinga. How each artist handled
life in Meiji Japan is quite interesting: women of opposite temperaments and characters, the
careers of Seiko and Shohin overlapped, but they eventually chose to go in very different
directions.

Okuhara Seiko (1837-1913)

Photographs of Seiko (Figure 16) reveal her masculine character and robust figure. She
wore men’s clothing, and had her hair cropped in a manly style. The tough image that
Seiko projected has led to speculation that she was homosexual. While this may be true,
her masculine traits may also have been a vehicle which she employed in order to fit more
comfortably into a world still dominated by men.
Seiko’s personality and life are equally fascinating.4 She was born in the domain of
Koga (Ibaragi prefecture), the fourth daughter of Ikeda Han’uemon Masaaki, a high-ranking
samurai serving the Koga daimyo. From her youth, Seiko (then called Setsuko) was
interested in scholarship, painting, and the martial arts. Her first painting teacher was
Hirata Suiseki (1801-1868), an artist who had studied under Tani Buncho while living in
Edo.5 From Suiseki, Seiko learned to paint bamboo and landscapes in an eclectic Chinese
manner. However, she deepened her knowledge of Chinese art by studying woodblock-
printed manuals and by making copies of paintings in local collections. Many of her early
sketchbooks still remain in the Ikeda family collection in Koga. They include copies of
paintings with signatures of such Chinese artists as Mu Ch’i, Su Shih, Wu Chen, Li Shih-
ta, Hsia Ch’ang, Shen Chou, Hsieh Shih-ch’en, Chang Jui-t’u, Wen Cheng-ming, Wang
Yiian-ch’i, and Shen Nan-p’in.© In addition, Seiko also made copies of Japanese bunjinga
that she saw; her sketches remain of paintings by Nakabayashi Chikuto, Tani Buncho, and

16]
16. Okuhara Seiko
Courtesy of the Ibaragi
Kenritsu Rekishikan

Watanabe Kazan among others. Although she supposedly remained Suiseki’s pupil for
close to twenty years,’ it is obvious that she learned a great deal from her independent
study of Chinese and Japanese painting (perhaps encouraged by Suiseki). The
individualistic style she eventually developed was the outcome of her eclectic training.
Seiko received the standard samurai education, becoming well-versed in Chinese
literature and philosophy. One might imagine that a provincial domain such as Koga was
culturally barren, but in fact the opposite was true. Besides Suiseki, there were a number of
distinguished bunjin active who were influential on Seiko in one way or another. She
studied Chinese poetry with Onuma Chinzan (1818-1891), mastering Chinese verse so
thoroughly that she frequently added her own poems to her paintings. Her early calligraphy
style was influenced by two Koga calligraphers, Koyama Kagai and his son Gooka. Seiko
also studied under Kayane Ichio who excelled in Chinese-style poetry as well as waka and
the tea ceremony; furthermore, she occasionally visited Takami Senseki (1785-1858), a
well-known scholar of Dutch studies.* Seiko’s education was exceptionally well-rounded
for a male or female; her intelligence and wide range of interests later led her to become
one of the most sought-after figures at scholarly gatherings.
In time Seiko yearned to go to Edo to study, but official regulations in the late Edo
period forbade women from leaving the domain of Koga. However, she cleverly managed to
circumvent the law; Seiko’s parents arranged for her to be adopted by an aunt? who resided
in the neighboring fief of Sekiyado. In the spring of 1865 Seiko boarded a palanquin, and
accompanied by her younger brother and others, set out for Sekiyado. Her maid servant,
Oden, was sent ahead to Edo along with Seiko’s luggage to arrange for her living quarters.
After staying three days at the residence of her new parents, Seiko was able to set out for
Edo, for Sekiyado laws did not prevent women from leaving.
In Edo, Seiko moved into a house which she named Bokutoen’unro (Ink Disgorging
Smoke Cloud Mansion) in the area of Shitaya in Ueno. Her Chinese poetry teacher Onuma
Chinzan maintained his Edo residence in Shitaya, and there were a number of other bunjin
artists living nearby.'© During these years, bunjinga was at the height of its popularity, and
Shitaya was a famous gathering place. With Seiko’s gregarious personality and budding

162
artistic talent, it did not take long for her to make a name in Edo. In the twelfth month of
1865 (the year she moved to Edo), she held a party for fellow artists at a restaurant on the
island Bentenjima at Shinobaza Pond in Ueno.'! At such gatherings, participants would eat
and drink, have lively discussions on art and poetry, and frequently band together to
produce impromptu paintings like the later example in Cat. 88. This social event firmly
established Seiko’s acceptance into the milieu of the Edo bunjin. It was around this time
that she adopted the name Seiko.!2. As Seiko’s fame increased, she began to receive
requests to accept students, among whom was the young woman Seisui (1852-1921) who
came to study with Seiko in 1866 at the age of fifteen.
Seiko’s new life in Edo was temporarily interrupted at the time of the Meiji Restoration.
Because of the agitated political situation and outbreaks of violence, she and her pupil
Seisui left Edo in the second month of 1868 and went to Kumagaya (Saitama prefecture).
Seiko returned to Edo briefly, but found the city in such turmoil that she decided to wait in
Kumagaya. She was an ardent supporter of the movement to restore rule to the imperial
house, and showed her patriotism at this time by signing her paintings “Nihon (Japan)
Seiko” and “Ajia (Asia) Seiko,” as well as by inscribing the year using a number system
based on the founding of the imperial line.
Once the Restoration had been carried out and Japan was once again at peace, Seiko’s
life in Edo (now Tokyo) returned to normal. After 1871 she must have cut an even more
mannish figure than before, for she responded to the government edict that topknots be
shorn off by cropping her own hair.!? She continued to flourish as an artist and teacher, and
opened a school at her residence in 1871. A year later she built a boarding house which she
called Shunchogakusha. Her female students were permitted to live there, but males were
required to commute. At one point Seiko’s students were said to number around three
hundred.'* One of her most famous pupils was Okakura Kakuzo (Tenshin, 1862-1913), who
went on to become a leading promoter of nihonga.'>
Seiko’s name became more and more celebrated due to her friendship with two
distinguished political figures, Yamanouchi Yodo (1827-1872) and Kido Takayoshi. They
were both cultivated men who enjoyed associating with bunjin artists, and they held
gatherings to which Seiko was invited. Kido frequently visited Seiko at her home, which
had become a favorite meeting place for artists. Kido was so fond of her that in addition to
inviting Seiko to accompany him to various places, he arranged for her to have an audience
with the empress in 1872.!© Seiko was the first woman artist to be honored in that way.
Because of her financial success, Seiko lived extravagantly. She continually renovated
and expanded her residence so that it increased in grandeur over the years. It is said that
she enjoyed hearing the sounds of carpenters in the morning and evening. Her fondness for
fine food led her to become quite heavy in her later years; she not only indulged herself but
entertained her guests in high style.
Although Seiko concentrated on Chinese-style painting and Chinese-style poetry, her
broad interests led her to participate in other activities. In addition to writing haiku, she
wrote the preface to a biography of George Washington (called Tsuzoku Washinton den)
that was published in 1873. The latter contribution indicates that she did not completely
reject Western culture as is sometimes believed.
Around 1874 Seiko with several friends!’ formed a small artistic society called the
Hankansha. Seiko was described as being so skillful in the art of conversation that she was
always in control of the discussions. Once she was securely established as a successful
artist, she stopped going to large bunjin gatherings. Such social events were a means
through which artists made themselves known, and Seiko no longer needed to promote
herself. Juried exhibitions were now frequent occurrences in Tokyo, but Seiko rarely
entered her works because she disliked competition. However she did attend them, and her
pupils entered their works. There is an amusing anecdote regarding Seiko’s attendance at
an exhibition opening. One of the guests got drunk and began to get rowdy. Saying that he
wanted to find out if Seiko was truly a woman, he reached out from behind her and tried to
grab her breast. Turning red with anger, Seiko seized him around the waist and threw him
over the tray set before her.
In 1878 Seiko set off on her first journey to the Kansai (Kyoto-Osaka) area, the trip

163
17. Seiran, Seiko’s Hokuetsu lasting six months. After passing through Nagoya, she went to Tsukigase to view the
Tole (dceal) 157° beautiful groves of plum trees. She then traveled to Nara, Osaka, and Kyoto, staying for
Hasegawa Yoshikazu
Galle con several months and associating with well-known bunjin.'8 This trip strengthened Seiko’s
reputation in central Japan, although she was most honored in Tokyo. Her fame in the
capital was such that her works could be found in the homes of many middle-class people,
and it was fashionable for teahouses and restaurants to have a scroll by her. This stimulated
the production of forgeries, most of which imitate the bold, cursory style which Seiko
practiced in the 1870s.
The Tokyo art world began to undergo some changes in the 1880s, with the increasing
interest in Western oil painting and the influence of Fenollosa. New art schools and
societies were formed, and painters debated ideas and formal issues with one another. A
close friend of Seiko’s, Kawakami Togai, became one of the pioneers of Western oil
painting in Japan. Seiko herself supposedly collected oil paintings,!9 but it was not a
direction she chose to pursue in her own art. Nevertheless, some of her work does show the
influence of Western perspective and coloring. While those around her were renouncing
bunjinga in favor of the more “modern styles,” Seiko resolutely clung to her own
preferences. She worried about the future of her pupils, however, and recommended that
they study Western-style painting instead of following her.
In 1889, Seiko was forced to move because her home was in the path of the
construction of a railroad. After having resided there for more than twenty years, she
reluctantly sold her studio and relocated elsewhere in Shitaya. She was not completely
satisfied with her new residence, however, and in 1891 she left Tokyo and retired to
Kumagaya. Although perhaps prompted by her unhappiness with her new home, the
primary reason underlying her permanent departure from Tokyo seems to have been the
transformation taking place in the art world. Seiko was well aware of the criticism bunjinga
was receiving and the heightened interest in Western oil painting and nihonga. Her major
spokesman, Kido Takayoshi, had died in 1877. A whole new generation of artists had
emerged, and Seiko now felt out of place. Determined to proceed with her own art form,
she decided to withdraw from Tokyo. She chose to go to the village of Kamikawakami in
the northern part of Kumagaya because she had close family friends there. She was
accompanied by her faithful pupil Seiran who acted as companion and secretary until the
end of Seiko’s life.
After living so many years in the city, Seiko found the village to which she had moved
a bit provincial. However, she had her home rebuilt to suit her taste, and had a beautiful
garden constructed.2° Seiko’s move to Kumagaya seems to have triggered a change in her
artistic style. She gradually shifted away from her early free and uninhibited style to one
featuring more detailed brushwork, richer color, and more thorough modeling of forms.
She continued to paint primarily landscape and bird-and-flower subjects, rarely doing
figures. Her works at this time exhibit a harmony between realistic depiction and
idealization.
In 1896, Seiko made a four-month trip with her pupil Seiran to the Hokuetsu region.
Seiran painted an amusing handscroll of one segment of this journey, with a scene of Seiko
about to be carried by palanquin (Figure 17). Seiko continued to make several treks in the
following years, visiting Kyoto again in 1898. She rarely executed paintings on these trips,
but took delight in traveling, seeing art, and talking with people. If she received requests
for paintings she would usually wait until she returned home to fulfill them.
The paintings Seiko created after her retirement to Kumagaya are considered to
represent the pinnacle of her artistry. By removing herself from the capital, Seiko was little
affected by the rapid modernization of Japan and the Russo-Japanese War. In the peace and
quiet of her country home, she concentrated solely on her art. Despite the fact that she was
no longer a visible figure in Tokyo, her patrons did not forget her and there continued to be
a demand for her works.
Seiko usually painted at night, first placing a rug in the room, then arranging candles at
the four corners; she would paint as many as thirty works at one sitting. One of her pupils
would be responsible for grinding the ink and keeping her inkstone full. Seiko paid
particular attention to her brushes, inkstones, and pigments, using only those of the highest
quality. Afterwards, she would take some tobacco out of a pouch, put it in a long stemmed
pipe and puff away, blowing out rings of smoke.
Seiko’s health began to fail in 1912, and she hung a plaque on her gate saying that she
would no longer be taking orders. She never fully recovered and died one year later at the
age of seventy-seven.

Noguchi Shohin (1847-1917)

Shohin was ten years younger than Seiko and came from a different part of Japan, but
she, too, was drawn to the art scene in Tokyo, and eventually the two women met and
became colleagues. Born in Osaka, Shohin was the only child of the doctor Matsumura
Shuntai.?! She was considered a prodigy, and like Seiko showed an amazing aptitude for
literature and art. By the age of five Shohin began to read and write, first trying to copy the
Chinese characters on the medicine labels in her father’s pharmacy. She soon began to
study waka, memorizing the poems in the Hyakunin isshu and learning to compose her own
as well. Her father did not send her to a terakoya because he felt that the teachers were not
very good; instead he preferred to educate Shohin himself at home. Shohin was not like
other children who liked to play outdoors; she would linger inside when her father and his
friends discussed poetry, and her parents would find her practicing reading and writing late
at night. She began to show an interest in painting from the age of four, and was enrolled
as a pupil of Ishigaki Tohei (1806-1876)? at the age of eight. Although Shohin also had
lessons in playing the koto, sewing, and archery, she was excited most by painting and
began to funnel her energies primarily into that art.
In 1860, when she was fourteen, Shohin’s father sold their house in Osaka and took the
family on an extended tour of northern Honsht. They ended up in Nagoya, but her father
became ill and died early in 1862. Shohin was only sixteen at the time; she remained with
her mother in Nagoya and sold her paintings in order to support them.?? Prior to this time,
she had led a sheltered life, and never had to concern herself with finances. Fortunately she
was able to attract some patrons. She was befriended by a feudal lord in Owari who invited
her to poetry and painting gatherings. One night at the home of a neighboring doctor, she
responded to a dare to do one thousand paintings in twenty-four hours. Shohin did a

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18. Shohin, Bunjin Gathering
(detail), 1862
Noguchi Chuzo Collection

painting memoralizing this event, depicting herself brushing a design upon a fan (Figure
18).
Shohin and her mother left Nagoya in 1865, traveled to Ise, Matsuzaka, Yamada, Tsu,*4
and Omi Hachiman before reaching Kyoto around 1867. There she became a pupil of the
bunjinga master Hine Taizan (1813-1869);?° it was around this time that she started using
the name Shohin. She was greatly influenced by her teacher, her early works showing a
careful structuring of traditional forms combined with a certain freedom of brushwork. She
concentrated on landscapes as well as flower and plant subjects, occasionally doing figure
paintings. Shohin soon became an active member in the Kyoto bunjin world, and by 1868
had become so friendly with Kido Takayoshi that she was invited to join the Kido family to
celebrate the enthronement of the Emperor Meiji on 12 October, 1868.26 Taizan died in
1869, followed shortly by Shohin’s mother in 1870. Now fully independent, Shohin tried to
expunge her sorrow by pouring herself into her art. The fact that she had been forced to
support herself and her mother from the age of sixteen, and that eight years later she was
parentless, acted as a catalyst in activating her painting career.
In 1871, one year after her mother’s death, Shohin moved to Tokyo. Thinking it unwise
to room by herself, she rented a place with two servant girls. Probably around this time
Shohin became acquainted with Okuhara Seiko. There is no evidence that they became
close friends, but they had many mutual acquaintances including Kido Takayoshi, and
consequently attended some of the same social gatherings. ShOhin’s reputation as an artist
was gradually established, and two years later she was invited to paint the sliding door
panels surrounding the sleeping quarters of the empress. Shohin became somewhat of a
traveling artist, moving to those areas where she was offered work; in 1875 she went to
Kofu in Yamanashi prefecture. She became such a prominent figure that one year later the
Kofu newspaper included a short article about her. There she met her future husband,
Noguchi Masaakira (1849-1922), the eldest son of a family of sake brewers. They were
married in 1877, but not without some resistance from the Noguchi family who felt that an
itinerant painter would not be a suitable wife for their son. However, in the end, they
accepted Shohin into the family. Professionally, the marriage may have worked in her favor.
Her husband and his family supported her work, and she was allowed to devote her time to
painting. Her father-in-law had been a patron of Hine Taizan, and may have helped by
recommending new sponsors to Shohin.

166
 At first the newly married couple lived with the Noguchi family in Shiga prefecture; a
daughter was born to Shohin and Masaakira in early 1878. The following year, they
returned to Kofu where Masaakira was put in charge of a branch of the family business.
Shohin did very few paintings in the early years of her marriage, probably because of the
demands of raising a child. However, there exist examples of beer labels that she designed
for the Noguchi family. Unfortunately her husband did not succeed in managing the family
business there, and was dismissed by his father. The couple thereupon left Kofu and went
to Tokyo in 1882.
From this point on, Shohin was the breadwinner, and for awhile they struggled to make
ends meet. At times she had to accept jobs in other prefectures in order to help with the
family finances. For example, in the summer of 1884 Shohin traveled north to Sendai, and
in the following year, she went to Maebashi (Gumma prefecture). In time, however,
Shohin’s talents came to be publicly recognized in Tokyo. Other artists and intellectuals
began to seek her out, and the number of her pupils increased. Official acknowledgement
came in 1889 when she was appointed Professor of Painting at the Peers’ Girls School. In
the same year she entered one of her works in the Paris Exposition, and another in the
Nihon Bijutsu Kyokai (Japan Art Association) exhibition where it received an honorable
mention. Four years later, in 1893, she had a landscape exhibited in the Chicago World
Exposition where it received a prize. Judging from the large number of her extant works,
she painted incessantly. Shohin herself said that excepting days when she was sick, a day
did not pass during which she did not pick up a brush.?7
Shohin resigned from her position at the Peers’ Girls School in 1893 because of illness.
Nevertheless, she continued to enter her works in national exhibitions where they regularly
received prizes. She achieved such renown that in 1899 she was appointed painting
instructor for the Higashi Fushimi princess. She continued to receive the favor of the
imperial family; in 1901 she was asked to paint sliding door panels for the palace, and in the
following year she became instructor to Empress Manko of the Kitashirakawa palace. Her
ultimate recognition came when she was appointed official artist of the Imperial Household
in 1904. Her duties included teaching members of the imperial family and painting works
for the palace.
Perhaps as a result of such lofty recognition, Shohin became more of a presence in the
exhibition world, serving as a judge for many of the national exhibitions. Not wishing to
retire, she remained active until late 1916 when she became seriously ill. Shohin died in the
second month of 1917 at the age of seventy-one. A photograph of her in her later years
shows that she was physically quite the opposite of Seiko—a small-framed woman—yet
nurtured a similarly intense spirit (Figure 19). Shohin’s daughter wrote that her mother was
very modest and reserved, and that she did not like voicing her opinions to reporters.?8
Although Shohin supported the family, she never boasted about her role. Wives who were
painters were still rare, and Shohin often exclaimed to her daughter how fortunate she was,
humbly saying that she had not achieved this position through any power of her own. Lest
someone criticize Shohin for indulging herself in her art and ignoring her family, Shohin’s
daughter firmly stated that she had been a good wife and mother. Yet despite all of this
emphasis on virtuousness and modesty, one cannot ignore the fact that Shohin went against
the norm and chose to devote her entire life to painting. Shohin spoke of her philosophy of
life in the following passage:?°
Once deciding to pursue something, one must have strong determination to the death. No matter
what art is pursued, the path will not be easy. One must fight against difficulties. An old
proverb says that when grief comes, it doubles courage. If one gives up halfway, one should
never have started. Unless one is superhuman or has outstanding character, it is not good to be
too wealthy, nor to be too poor. Worrying about food and clothing, one cannot devote oneself to
being a good painter. On the other hand, acquiring too much wealth can make one too relaxed,
and this obstructs mastery of an art.
Upon reading Shohin’s description of the inner strength necessary to become successful
as an artist, it is clear that this psychology was most crucial for women. Although society
was changing its attitudes, a woman still needed more than just talent to succeed. Seiko
and Shohin both possessed the necessary ingredients of ambition, family support, and
patrons that allowed them to fulfill their dreams. In the end, Seiko found herself unable to

167
i) Noguchi Shohin
Courtesy of the Yamanashi
Kenritsu Bijutsukan

cope with modern Tokyo and obstinately withdrew from the public art world. Shohin found
it easier to adapt to the changing times. Instead of rejecting modern Japan, she took an
active role in artistic organizations and the growing numbers of exhibitions, both domestic
and foreign. Although practicing what had become, by the twentieth century, an outmoded
style, Shohin was able to withstand the pressures and ultimately found a comfortable niche
for herself.
Neither Seiko nor Shohin had much impact upon the next generation of artists.
Although Seiko had many pupils at one time in her life, only her closest followers such as
Seiran continued to paint in her manner. Shohin’s best pupil was her daughter, Iku
(Shokei), who continued to produce fine works following the style of her mother. Seiko and
Shohin were among the last flashes of brilliance within the bunjinga tradition before the
tide fully turned toward more modern styles of painting.

168
78. Okuhara Seiko (1837-1913) form the orchid flowers; for contrast, she brushed the
Orchids, 1870 leaves in rich black. To the left she has inscribed the date
Folding fan, ink on mica paper, 14.1 x 49.9 cm. and place of execution, and at the right the following
Signature: Seiko kyojin Chinese-style poem:
Seals: undecipherable Amidst the mountains, the orchids aspire to grow as freely as
Shoka Collection weeds;
Published: Stephen Addiss, “Japanese Literati Artists of the Leaves warm themselves, flowers flutter, saturated with the
Meiji Period,” Essays on Japanese Art Presented to Jack spirit of the season.
Hillier (London: Robert G. Sawers Publishing, 1982), fig. 9. The orchid sends forth its fragrance; although not extending
too far,
It wafts past the dirt and dust of the everyday world.
Poem and painting are composed with similar
brushstrokes, the calligraphy relating naturally to the
This fan is dated 1870, five years after Seiko had painted orchids. It is said that when Cheng Hsieh painted
moved to Tokyo, and was inscribed as having been painted these flowers, they were like calligraphy, and when he
at her Bokutoen’unr6 studio. It represents the bold and wrote out the character for orchids, it resembled flowers.
dashing brushwork she practiced in the 1870s and 1880s, The same applies to Seiko, her brushwork throughout
loosely modeled upon the brush manner of the Chinese exhibiting an uninhibited freedom balanced by a masterful
artist Cheng Hsieh (Cheng Pan-ch’iao, 1693-1765). Cheng control of the brush. The shiny mica surface imbues the
was a noted master of bamboo and orchids, his style poem and image with a soft glow appropriate to this
celebrated for its freedom of expression. Seiko is modest literati subject.
supposed to have owned an album by Cheng, and she was
influenced by his brushwork in her painting and even more
in her calligraphy.
Seiko has centered the cluster of orchids which sprout
leftward from the crevices of a rock. She loosely defined
the rock edges with moist gray ink which puddled in areas
due to the hard mica surface. A similar gray was used to

169
 79. Okuhara Seiko
Summer Mountains, 1883
Hanging scroll, ink and light colors on satin,
46.8 x 57.4 cm.
Signature: Tokai Seiko shiga
Seals: Seiko; Seiko na Seikan azana etsu Seiko
Otaka Fukutar6 Collection

we
oD
~

Throughout her life Seiko occasionally painted

oyksi
et
landscapes following the tradition of the Chinese scholar-
painter Mi Fu (1051-1107), composed of layers of repeated
horizontal strokes in varying tones of ink. The so-called
ANSE
FE
SO
se
ae Mi style was favored by literati painters in both China and
Japan, particularly when they wanted to portray lush
Ay
SS
oe
RE
BRS
4EM
EAL
E summer scenery (see Cat. 49). Seiko’s landscape is
imbued with a deep, resonant misty quality, evoking the
seasonal rains that come to southern China and Japan in
Et
Ex
ee early summer.
Ss
Shy
See The mountainous scene is bathed in mist, with only
the uppermost peaks exposed. Two scholars sit in a
pavilion overlooking a wide expanse of lake, listening to
the waves lap quietly at the shore. The empty areas of mist
and lake are crucial to the compositional design, balancing
and intensifying the richly painted trees and land forms.
Seiko’s composition represents an unusual variation on the
standard design of Mi-style landscapes, which usually
depict a series of rounded mountain peaks centered on a
vertical axis. Instead she has placed two large mountain
forms slightly off-center; the upper one is leveled off and
the lower slightly pointed, establishing an interesting
dialogue.
Seiko’s choice of the shimmering satin surface
augments the damp, foggy atmospheric quality. Although
the landscape appears to be rendered entirely in ink, on
closer inspection one discovers light touches of a peach
color applied sparingly for accent. Seiko’s Chinese-style
poem reads:
Enclosed by fresh greenery in my mountain dwelling,
Seaside friends come by to discuss poetry.
Amidst the rain—the voice of the cuckoo at the eaves—
The mountain colors interspersed with mist are wondrous.

170
80. Okuhara Seiko
River Village in Spring, 1896
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 128 x 52.5 cm.
Signature: Seiko shi ga
Seals: Seiko; Tokai Seikan; Shobokuso
Hasegawa Yoshikazu Collection
Published: Saitama Kenritsu Hakubutsukan, Tokubetsu ten:
Okuhara Seiko ten zuroku, p\. 101; Fujijake, Okuhara Seiko
gashu, pl. 39.

Se
ae
ot
oe
RB
We
3h
Me
a
This scroll was painted five years after Seiko retired to
Kumagaya, at the request of Hasegawa Ichir6 (died 1897),
her friend and patron living in Tsukayama of Niigata
prefecture. An upper-class samurai, Hasegawa presided
over a small domain. Seiko and her pupil Seiran were
frequent guests at his mansion, staying for up to a month at
atime. In return for being entertained at the Hasegawa
home, Seiko created what are now recognized as some of
her masterpieces. Many of the works were painted during
her sojourns; the Hasegawa family’s hospitality and
harmonious surroundings appear to have suited Seiko well.
After Hasegawa Ichiro’s untimely death, Seiko continued
to visit his mother, indicative of her close friendship with
the family.
Seiko recorded that this scroll was painted in the fourth
month of 1896.3° It depicts a wide river winding through
mountainous countryside, not unlike the scenery near the
Hasegawa home in Tsukayama. Spring has arrived, and
the banks are flush with willows and blossoming peach
trees. While fishermen ply their oars, other people wile
away the time rambling through the hills or sitting in the
pavilions dotting the shore, as though intoxicated by the
verdant surroundings. Seiko emphasized the lush scenery
by employing a range of greens and blue color washes.
The lavish spectrum and reliance on fine, delicate
brushstrokes illustrate the stylistic changes that took place
after she moved to Kumagaya. Seiko’s poem reads:
Willows bend delicately, creating many gestures;
The peach blossoms are radiant in appearance.
Lakes and mountains winding for thirty li—
This beautiful view inspires good poetry.

171
172
mS
ER Lo dene Sim
81. Okuhara Seiko larger leaves, increasing the painting’s luminosity. In
Cranes, 1905 contrast, portions of the cranes’ bodies were left unpainted,
Pair of hanging scrolls, ink and colors on silk, allowing the cream-colored silk to function as feathers.
Cacho 5exe elem: White highlights were applied to some of the feathers,
Signatures: Seiko ché; Seiko utsusu intensifying the purity of these “birds of the immortals.”
Seals: Seiko; Seifu taitsu; Seiko Painted for one of her most important patrons, this pair of
The Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
scrolls shows the radiant beauty of Seiko’s late style.
Published: Saitama Kenritsu Hakubutsukan, Tokubetsu ten:
Okuhara Seiko ten zuroku, pl. 63; lizuka, Nihonga taisei,
vol. 24, pls. 94-95; Fujikake, Okuhara Seiko gashi, pls.
76-77.

Like the previous landscape, this monumental pair of

scrolls was painted for the Hasegawa family in Niigata.
They bear celebratory inscriptions saying “Great and
boundless joy to your descendants” and “May the pleasure
of your descendants be doubled by wealth, honor,
prosperity, and harmony.” The compositions are bursting
with symbols of longevity, suggesting that the scrolls may
have been painted for a felicitous occasion such as the new
year or a birthday. Each painting contains a group of six
large white cranes, believed to be the vehicles of
immortals; thus cranes came to be associated with long
life. In the right scroll, the cranes are standing beneath a
peach tree laden with fruit, another symbol of immortality.
The cranes in the left scroll are shielded by a twisted pine
tree, around which grows blossoming plum. Pine and
plum are two of the “Friends of Winter,” representing
endurance and rejuvenation because of their ability to
withstand cold, harsh weather.
The full and complexly organized compositions,
combined with brilliant coloring and descriptive
brushwork, recall the style introduced to Japan by the
Chinese artist Shen Nan-p’in, which came to be known as
the Nagasaki tradition (see Cat. 33). By Seiko’s time,
knowledge of Nagasaki school painting was widespread.
She is known to have copied at least one painting by Shen
in her formative years; it is interesting that the Nagasaki
style did not seem to influence Seiko until her move to
Kumagaya. Seiko found herself moving away from an
impressionistic brush manner towards more descriptive
methods of texturing, perhaps being influenced by the
experimentation with Western realism taking place around
her. She did not abandon her Chinese heritage, but when
painting bird-and-flower subjects, she shifted away from
pure bunjinga prototypes to the semi-naturalistic Nagasaki
style.
Seiko’s use of rich colors such as malachite green,
combined with bold compositional designs, imbue her
subjects with life and vigor. In general she defined the
forms with a combination of broken lines and dotting,
applying color washes or scores of small brushstrokes
within. The vegetation is especially vividly described with
meticulous texture strokes, and exhibits a full range of
greens. Seiko brushed gold lines for veins on some of the
 82. Noguchi Shohin (1847-1917)
Woman Bunjin Preparing Sencha
Folding fan mounted as a hanging scroll,
ink and colors on paper, 15 x 46.1 cm.
Signature: Shohin Joshi Chika utsusu
Seal: Shohin
Private collection

The subject of this fan is highly unusual: a lady bunjin

preparing Chinese steeped tea known as sencha.?!
Holding the kyiésu (teapot) in her right hand, she is about
to pour tea into the small cups arranged on the banana leaf
before her. To her right are a brazier used to heat the water
and a basket of charcoal topped by a feather used to fan the
coals. The other items represent the various accouterments
and favored objects of scholars: books, scrolls, pine
branches, orchids, and a basket of fruit.
Japanese bunjin active in the nineteenth century were
enamored of the sencha ceremony, and they frequently
depicted men enjoying sencha in their paintings. To see a
woman in this role, however, is rare if not unique to
Shohin. That she would paint this scene explicitly shows
her personal identification with the bunjin lifestyle, and it
may be a kind of self-portrait.
The style of painting suggests that this fan may be an
early work by Shohin, perhaps done in the 1870s.32_ The
figure of the woman is based on an ukiyo-e prototype;
however, the brushwork features the broken linework
associated with bunjinga rather than the smooth lineament
of ukiyo-e. Shohin’s brushwork has a relaxed and casual
quality, creating a lively yet delicate rhythm. The ink and
pale colors blurred slightly when her brush was wet, the
resulting uneven lines adding to the subtle charm of this
bunjin painting.

174
83. Noguchi Shohin
Women Practicing Arts in a Garden, 1872
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 111.5 x 37 cm.
Seals: Matsumura-shi, Shohin
Noguchi Chuz6 Collection
Published: Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan, Noguchi Shohin
ten zuroku, fig. 6; Moriya, “Noguchi Shohin kenkyu,”
Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan kenkyu kiyo, no. 3, fig. 3;
Noguchi, ed., Shdhin iboku shi, vol. 1.

This painting celebrates the artistry of women. From

the top of the scroll to the bottom, Shohin has represented
women playing music (both lute and flute), listening to
music, reading books, painting, and practicing sencha.
The subject matter recalls scenes of Chinese scholars
amusing themselves in garden settings, particularly with
the addition of the banana trees. Shohin has created a
playful variation upon this theme by depicting Japanese
women instead of men; she may have wanted to express her
feelings that females could be just as talented and
intellectually oriented as male counterparts.
Shohin painted this work one year after moving to
Tokyo. The scroll bears a hidden signature and the date
1872, written in tiny script on the scroll of peonies hanging
just to the right of the woman playing the lute. Shohin also
added a box inscription thirty-nine years later, relating that
it was painted for Tani Tesshin, a samurai from Hikone
who became famous for his poetry and calligraphy.
The delicate brushwork and color sensibility combine
here to produce a work of extraordinarily refined beauty.
Shohin created the surrounding garden landscape by
blending ink and pale green washes, establishing an
appropriately quiet setting for the kinds of activities taking
place. The figures were drawn with fine, threadlike lines.
Their garments are surprisingly understated in both
coloring and design, with bamboo and orchids figuring
prominently in the textile patterns, alluding to Shohin’s
own literati interests. Because of the emphasis on ink
tonalities and pale colors, the bold red accents appearing in
the architecture and in some of the fabrics add a note of
contrast that enlivens the total composition.
 84. Noguchi Shohin
Two Bijin
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 104.6 x 34 cm.
Signature: Shohin utsusu
Seals: Matsumura-shi, Shohin
Mizutani Ishinosuke Collection

Shohin obviously enjoyed painting beautiful women

engaged in artistic activities; here she has depicted two
Japanese courtesans. The figure at the right stands
majestically, her robes flowing around her feet like water.
She glances downward as though to converse with her
kneeling friend, who looks up from the book she has been
reading. Two decorated tanzaku (poem sheets) lay on the
ad floor in front of them, waiting to be inscribed with poems.
>
This scroll differs from standard courtesan paintings
by the inclusion of several objects alluding to the artistic
and scholarly interests of these women. In addition to the
books and tanzaku, on the table sit three containers
containing plants identified with literati: orchid, bamboo,
and plum. The setting is stark, with most of the
surrounding objects rendered in monochrome ink. Ink was
also used to render portions of the textiles; subtle shading,
particularly around the folds, is evident. Like in Cat. 53)
Shohin has employed a brilliant red for contrast. Her
brushlines defining the forms are precise, but never hard.
Although she modeled her women upon ukiyo-e figure
types, Shohin’s brushwork is more refined and delicate,
exhibiting features of classical Chinese painting.

176
85. Noguchi Shohin
Autumn Flowers and Grasses, 1888
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 143.5 x 49.5 cm.
Signature: Shohin Joshi Noguchi Chika
Seals: Noguchi Chika no in; Shohin Joshi;
Kyu shu ran i i hai
Nakagami Ry6ta Collection

Among Shohin’s most popular works were her

paintings of seasonal flowers and grasses. This example
represents a real tour de force in that genre; Shohin has t
almost completely filled the composition, lavishing a great me
:
deal of attention on accurately representing many species &
Da
of plants. She firmly grounded the design by painting in f
monochrome ink the large rock at the left and another Po.w
Fa
section of foreground in the lower right. Plant forms .
ro
encircle the rock, rise above it, and shield it like an
umbrella.
The flora and fauna depicted include hibiscus,
begonia, chrysanthemum, pinks, amaranth, and
dayflowers. Because of the plethora of foliage, an
extraordinary range of green coloring dominates,
intensifying by contrast the red and yellow autumnal
blossoms. In representing the leaves and flowers, Shohin
has used a brush method referred to as mokkotsu or
“boneless.” Instead of outlining each of the leaves and
then adding colors within, she has freely brushed on the
areas of color without boundary lines. Afterwards, she
added slender strokes to represent the veins of the leaves.
Shohin was skillful at manipulating the wet brush to create
the effect of light and shade, a practice learned from her
study of Chinese painting; she perhaps was also influenced
by the growing public interest in Western empiricism.
86. Noguchi Shohin
Lotus, 1905
Hanging scroll, ink and gold on silk, 116 x 41 cm.
Signature: Shohin Chika utsusu
Seals: No Chika no in; No-shi Seien
Noguchi Chizo Collection
Published: Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan, Noguchi Shohin
ten zuroku, fig. 31; Moriya, “Noguchi Shohin kenkyu,”
Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan kenkya kiyo, no. 3, fig. 12.

at
ae
{2
Rendered solely with monochrome ink and gold, this =~
work has a stark elegance causing it to stand out among at —
Secxrs
Ste
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Shohin’s works in the plant genre. The subject is the lotus,

a plant heavily laden with Buddhist symbolism. Because it
grows up from the mud at the bottom of ponds and
blossoms into a beautiful flower upon reaching the surface,
the lotus came to be used as a metaphor for enlightenment.
Shohin referred to the special meaning of the lotus in her
short inscription: “Beyond comparison, it ranks highest
among the immortals.”
It may seem surprising that a freely rendered ink
painting could be so naturalistic, but obviously, Shohin has
carefully observed the way a lotus grows and bends.
Flowers are shown at various stages of blossoming, and the
leaves are also depicted in different positions. Shohin’s
manipulation of the wetly inked brush and the “boneless’ 5)
technique here are masterful. The varied tonalities of ink
truly give the impression of three-dimensionality, as well
as being satisfying as an abstract play of light areas
contrasting with dark. Shohin brushed lines of black ink
on the leaves for veins, and then sparingly overlaid them
with gold. Gold lines have also been used to show
striations within the flower petals, and a light gold wash
was brushed over the surrounding empty silk, enhancing
the subtleties of the ink brushwork.

178
87. Noguchi Shohin
Mountains in Autumn, 1910
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 204.5 x 86.4 cm.
Signature: Shohin Joshi Chika
Seals: Chdsei kakei; Noguchi Chika in; Shohin Joshi; Shunji
ta kahi
Philadelphia Museum of Art: Gift of Ralph E. Balestrieri
Published: Frederick Baekeland, /mperial Japan: The Art of
the Meiji Era (Ithaca, New York: Herbert F. Johnson is
bryeg
ES?E,
HAH
tm
2
Museum of Art, Cornell University, 1980), no. 32.

Painted ten years before her death, Mountains in

Autumn represents the height of Shohin’s achievements in
the realm of landscape. The composition is rich in detail,
featuring refined brushwork and a sophisticated design.
Although she seems to have studied with Hine Taizan for
only two years, the brush methods Shohin utilized forty
years later still show traces of his influence. In particular,
she learned from Taizan a system of texturing by
methodically building up areas of repeated small
brushstrokes to recreate rock surfaces, mountain foliage,
and trees. Shohin composed this landscape almost entirely
of ink, using light washes of green and red color for the
pine trees and foliage.
Shohin was especially fond of representing a group of
venerable pine trees in the foreground, above which rise
majestic mountains. This landscape is made even more
interesting by the unusual rock formation dominating the
center of the composition. Shohin occasionally painted
actual views, but most of her landscapes are idealized
mountainscapes like this, culled from her imagination.
Frequently there is a reference to the scholarly lifestyle;
looking inside the hut in the lower foreground we can see
books and a scroll lying on the table. No figures are
present, but one suspects they are sitting in some secluded
spot, imbibing tea and absorbing the natural beauty of the
surroundings. Shohin’s poem further describes the scene:
A waterfall flows in amongst the trees
and gushes forth again,
The cliffs and rocks have a lingering purity.
With maple leaves as vivid as brocade,
The autumn mountains return to their bright luster.

179
 88. Noguchi Shohin, Okuhara Seiko, and others
Collaboration of Paintings and Poems, 1896-1902
Hanging scroll, ink and colors on silk, 129.5 x 37.2 cm.
Private collection

Collaborative works like this scroll were common in

the late Edo and Meiji periods, often the creative outcome
of bunjin gatherings. This example features contributions
by twenty-three different artists. Although some joint
endeavors were produced at one sitting, this example seems
to have been done over a period of several years for a Mr.
Ryutei.33 The irregularly shaped sections were marked off
ahead of time, and selected artists and poets requested to
paint or write something within. The alternation between
calligraphy and painting and the asymmetrical layout of the
individual sections result in an aesthetically pleasing
abstract design.
The title “Good Taste” was inscribed in the upper
oe
& right-hand corner. Of special interest are the contributions
=
of three women artists, including Shohin and Seiko. Seiko
painted two Chinese-looking sages (Cat. 88a), and above
them added the following couplet:.
@++»
Eyes open wide to the colors of the tall mountains,
Ears listen to the sound of the flowing waters.
Shohin brushed a clump of lilac blossoms (Cat. 88b), also
ee
pet
ea
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RS
FS
Rw
BERS adding a couplet in Chinese:
Concentrated dew opens the young stamens,
Wind gently scatters their subtle fragrance.
A third female artist, Nakabayashi Seishuku (died
1912), painted the branch of plum blossoms extending
leftward near the middle of the composition. The daughter
of the famous bunjinga artist Nakabayashi Chikuto,
Seishuku never achieved the fame of Shohin and Seiko, but
oe was still highly regarded as a painter of plum blossoms.
> £ d The fact that three women artists were invited to contribute
~~ 5, Bs , ‘ +g to this collaboration is proof that they were fully integrated
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180
Notes
1. By 1897 the rate of elementary school attendance was more than fifty 23. Shohin’s circumstances are similar to those experienced by the Meiji
percent for girls and more than eighty percent for boys; by the end of the woman writer, Higuchi Ichiyo. Because her father died when she was
Meiji era in 1912 the rate was ninety-eight percent for girls and ninety- seventeen, IchiyO was expected to support her mother and younger sister.
nine percent for boys. See Robins-Mowry, The Hidden Sun: Women of At that point she considered writing fiction and selling it, and went on to
Modern Japan, 40. become a well-known novelist.
2. For further information on Higuchi Ichiyo’s life and work, see Robert 24. While in Tsu, she became an artist-in-residence for the feudal lord
Lyons Danly, In the Shade of Spring Leaves (New Haven, Conn.: Yale Todo. See Noguchi Shohin nenpu, 27.
University Press, 1981). 25. There is some confusion as to exactly when she began to study with
3. Founded by Iwamoto Zenji. The name was later changed to Bungakkai Taizan. See Moriya, “Noguchi Shohin kenkyu,” 2-3.
(Literary World). 26. Brown and Hirota, Diary of Kido Takayoshi, vol. 1, li. Shohin is
4. The most comprehensive book regarding Seiko’s life is Fujikake mentioned frequently in Kido’s diaries.
Shizuya’s Okuhara Seiko gasha. Unless otherwise noted, the 27. “Gajin no shOgai wa ita no ma no rakusho yori hajimaru,” Noguchi
biographical information in this chapter was drawn from this source. Shohin ten zuroku.
5. Suiseki originally lived and worked in Edo, but he eventually moved to 28. Noguchi Shokei, Watashi no haha, 19.
the domain of Koga where he had many friends and patrons. 29. Quoted in Japanese in Noguchi, Watashi no haha, 17-18.
6. For illustrations of some of Seiko’s copies of Chinese paintings, see 30. In that same month, Seiran painted a handscroll depicting Seiko’s
Yamanouchi Ch6zo, “Okuhara Seiko no gagy6 to funpon,” Nihon nanga long journey to the Hasegawa home, a section of which appears in Figure
shi, 400-401. We
7. After Seiko left Koga, she seems to have severed ties with Suiseki. It 31. For background on sencha, see Cat. 72.
is believed that as Seiko matured into a young woman, Suiseki became 32. The brushwork is similar to a bijin painting in the Noguchi Collection
infatuated and confessed his feelings to her. When Seiko ignored him, that is recorded as having been done at the age of eighteen or nineteen.
Suiseki supposedly got bolder—in anger she pushed him off the second 33. Several of the paintings and poems are dated, the years ranging from
floor of his studio, after which she fled, never to see him again. 1896-1902.
8. The stature of some of these men attracted other bunjin to visit Koga,
including Otsuki Bankei (1801-1878), Fukuda Hanko (1804-1864), and
Okamoto Shiki (1807?-1862).
9. The younger sister of Seiko’s father, wife of the samurai Okuhara
Genzaemon.
10. These included Seki Sekk6 (1827-1877), Fukushima Rytho
(1820-1889), Inose Tonei (1829-1910), and Suzuki Gako (1816-1870), who
were referred to collectively as the “Shitaya literati.”
11. Those in attendance were Onuma Chinzan, Suzuki Shotd (1823-1898),
Seki Sekko, Uemura Roshti (1830-1885), Takasai Tanzan (died 1890),
Yamanouchi Kokei (1843-?), Matsuoka Kansui (1830-1887), Suzuki Gako,
Sakada Okaku (d. circa 1881), Fukushima Ryuho, and Hattori Hanzan
(1827-1894).
12. There are two theories regarding the adoption of this name. One is
that she borrowed the characters from the name of the visiting Chinese
artist Fei Ch’ing-hu (J: Hi Seiko, d. circa 1793). The other is that in her
youth, although her name was officially Setsuko, she was nicknamed
Seiko.
13. The government seems to have anguished over whether or not to put a
stop to women cutting their hair.
14. Her two most famous pupils were women, Seisui (mentioned earlier)
and Watanabe Seiran (1855-1918), the latter of whom began to study
around 1870. Among Seiko’s pupils were also geisha.
15. Although Tenshin turned away from bunjinga, he remained friends
with Seiko throughout her life, writing her letters and poems.
16. Not having the appropriate formal wear, she bought a new kimono for
the event. It was a rainy day and Seiko was not used to wearing formal
kimono. She found it very awkward and slipped while walking in the
imperial garden, falling into the mud. The attendant asked if someone
should be sent to her residence to fetch another robe, but Seiko replied
that she did not have another. She then removed her wet clothes, which
were washed and dried in time for her to meet the empress.
17. Washizu Kido (1825-1882), Konagai Shosht (1829-1888), Ichikawa
Ban’an (1807-1877), and Kawakami Togai (1827-1881).
18. Maeda Handen (1817-1878), Tani Tesshin (1820-1905), Okamoto
K6seki (1811-1898), Yamanaka Shinten’6 (1823-1885), Itakura Kaido (died
1879), Nakanishi Koseki (1813-1884), Murata Kokoku (1830-1912), and
Tomioka Tessai (1836-1924).
19. Saitama Kenritsu Hakubutsukan, Jokubetsu ten: Okuhara Seiko ten
zuroku, 90.
20. She named her new residence Shubutsusodo, but later changed the
name to Shisuisodo after she had a tributary of running water created to
run through her compound.
21. The best sources of information on Shohin’s life are the articles by
Moriya Masahiko and the exhibition catalogue, Noguchi Shohin ten
zuroku published by the Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan. Shohin’s
daughter, Noguchi Iku (Shokei), wrote two essays about her mother, and
also collected articles from a number of people who had known Shohin
which she had privately published under the title Watashi no haha.
22. An artist of the Shijo school, also known by the names of Tsunuga
and Higashiyama.

181
 Conclusion

Two controversial issues inevitably arise in any discussion of Japanese women artists.
First, was there a “women’s style?” Japanese scholars are fond of saying that art by women
has a peculiarly effeminate quality, using such descriptive terms as joseiteki (feminine) or
josei rashii (womanlike). However, I believe that these terms are inaccurate, and would
argue that stylistically, artworks by Japanese women are essentially no different than those
by Japanese men working in the same school in the same era. This is not surprising since
in almost all cases, women artists studied with men. Following Japanese tradition, all
students learned and mastered the style of their teachers, gradually evolving their own
personal characteristics. Works by Japanese women can frequently be identified because
the characters equivalent to Miss or Mrs. appear in their signatures. If one were to cover up
the signatures, however, in most cases I do not believe that one could determine whether the
artist was male or female. Furthermore, the tremendous range of creativity seen in the
works presented here should negate any notions of a “women’s style.”
With regard to subject matter, women generally painted the same subjects as did men,
following the school or tradition with which they were affiliated. However, there is
evidence that some women were attracted to certain subjects because of their feminine
sensibilities. For example, Kiyohara Yukinobu painted a larger percentage of female figural
subjects than did male Kano school artists. It is not clear if this was due to Yukinobu’s
personal choice; she may have been responding to the wishes of patrons who enjoyed the
novelty of having a female subject painted by a woman. One of the rare works in the
exhibition which depicts a subject unlikely to have been painted by a man is Cat. 82. The
artist, Noguchi Shohin, painted a female in a setting that would traditionally have included
a male bunjin. It may in fact be a kind of self-portrait, although it is not inscribed as such.
A second issue concerns the contribution of women to the history of Japanese art. If
their work was as significant as that by contemporary males, why haven’t women been
integrated more than occasionally into exhibitions and literature on art? The answer
involves social rather than art history. Until the late nineteenth century, Japanese women
were generally discouraged from assuming leadership roles; cautioned not to make outward
displays of their talents, they were held back from doing anything radically new or creating
works that would challenge the artistic norms. These societal pressures can be sensed in
traditional Japanese biographies of women artists, which stress the gentle, virtuous nature
of their subjects. If women were married, authors were quick to point out their faithfulness
as wives, and if unmarried or widowed, their modesty. These commentaries were
obviously colored by descriptions of the “proper” female in moral instruction books like the
Onna daigaku. Lest readers think that by being artists these women were frivolously
indulging themselves, biographers justified their status by emphasizing their virtuous
conduct and industriousness, obscuring their contributions to art history.
Because of the persisting Confucian image of women in secondary roles, female artists
have continued to be neglected by most Japanese. Traditionally, women were not thought
of as individuals, but in terms of their relationships (wife, sister, daughter) to men. The
Japanese woman artist who is most well-known today, Ike Gyokuran, achieved recognition
in large part because she was the wife of a famous painter. In both China and Japan, art
appreciation has often been connected to the status of the individual and not based on the
quality of the art itself. There are other women artists whose works are equal in quality to
Gyokuran’s, but they are still virtually unknown.
Although their names are rarely included in modern art historical texts, there is
evidence that in their own day women artists were recognized and to some extent integrated
into the artistic world in Japan. In Edo- and Meiji-period Who’s Who types of publications
and biographical dictionaries of artists, women were usually listed alongside men.! We

182
have seen that many women earned the plaudits of their peers and became important figures
in both literary and artistic circles. One of the justifications for this exhibition is that
women have been overlooked by later scholars, and consequently there is very little
understanding of how they fit into the history of Japanese art. A few women artists have
been studied as individuals in recent years, but as a group they have not yet been a subject
of focused inquiry either in Japan or the West. No one denies the importance of women in
Japanese literature, but until now there has not been a corresponding appreciation of women
in the visual arts.
Having surveyed nearly one hundred artworks by selected Japanese women, we have
seen a more rich and complex world emerge than might have been imagined. In the
designated three-hundred-year period, women artists came from diverse segments of
society, worked in many different schools and traditions, and created artworks displaying a
wide range of styles. The sheer number of women who actively produced art is impressive,
even though they represent a very small fraction of the artists active during this period.? It
is unrealistic to expect that they would generate as many major masters as male artists who
numbered in the’thousands. Yet women explored fully whatever creative outlets were open
to them, making imaginative, individual contributions within established traditions.
Ranging from the elegant waka of Ono Ozt to the “wild cursive” script of the prodigy
Okon, from the dramatic prints of Kakuju-jo to the sensitive pottery of Rengetsu, and from
the evocative haiga of Chiyo to the vibrant literati landscapes of Seiko, the ultimate
significance of women artists lies in the richness and diversity they added to Japanese art.
By omitting them, the total is diminished. It is hoped that this exhibition and catalogue
will help to rectify an incomplete view of Japanese art history.

Notes
1. A few books, like the Gajo yoryaku, list women in a special category of female artists.
2. For example, Ichikawa’s dictionary of Edo-period female calligraphers, Kinsei jorya shod6 meika shi den,
contains biographies of 264 women.
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Calligraphy
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Women and Literature

Fukui Kyazo. Kinsei waka shi. Tokyo: Seibid6 Shoten, 1930.
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Women and Zen

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Chiyo
Fudeuchi Yukiko. Kaga no Chiyo. Kanazawa: Hokkoku Shuppansha.
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Gyokuran
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Kankan

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Kikusha
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Koran
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Ito Shin. Saikd to Koran. Gifu: Yabase Ryukichi, 1969.
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Matsushita Hidemaru. “Mino no futa meika.” To6hd bungei, no. 14 (1955): 9-10.
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Ninchdji Seison. “Koran mibdjin no shokan.” Kamigata, no. 111 (1940): 138-141.

Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan. /shin kaiten no senku ningen: Seigan--sono kiseki. Ogaki: Ogaki Shi Bunka
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Soeda Tatsumine. “Yanagawa Seigan to Koran Joshi.” Gajin kawa (1928): 149-162.
Tokari Soshinan. “Seigan fusai no tegami.” Atorie, vol. 15, no. 5 (1938): 24-27.
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Tominaga Chojo. Seigan zenshi, vol. 4. Gifu: 1958.

Ohashi
Shimizu (Fueoka) HOgan. “Daishi ichiban daikatsu gensei: Yujo Ohashi.” In Bijin Zen, 172-185.
Tokyo: Uchiushi Shuppansha, 1915.

Oi
Edo Tatsuo. ‘“‘Katsushika Oi no seishi ni tsuite.” Ukiyo-e geijutsu, no. 47 (1976): 33-34.
Hayashi Yoshikazu. Enpon kenkyii: Oei to Eisen. Tokyo: Arimitsu Shobo, 1967.
lijima Hanjiro. Katsushika Hokusai den, vol. 2, 61-65. Tokyo: Kobayashi Bunshichi, 1893.
Sekine Shisei. Ukiyo-e hyakka den, \10-112. Tokyo: 1925.
Yamaguchi Genshu. “Katsushika Ei-jo.” Toei, vol. 12, no. 5 (1936): 33-36.
Yasuda G6zo. “Hokusai no musume: Oiei-jo.” Ukiyo-e, no. 86 (1981): 32-44.

Okon

Fister, Patricia. “Tokai Okon.” Calligraphy Idea Exchange, vol. 3, no. 4 (Summer 1986): 26-33.
Mimura Seizaburo. “Tokai Kon-jo.” Sho no tomo, vol. 8, no. 1: 29-31.

Ozu (Otsu)
Iwahashi Koiyata. “Ono Otsu shu den.” Rekishi chiri, no. 37:1-4 (1921): 67-74.
Komatsu Shigemi, ed. “Ono Ozt.” In Nihon shoseki taikan, vol. 13, no. 34, pls. 105-109. Tokyo:
Kodansha, 1979.
Komatsu Shigemi. Nihon shoryu zenshi, vol. 1, 722-726; vol. 2, pls. 591-597. Tokyo: K6dansha, 1970.
Maeda Toshiko. “Ono Otsu.” Nihon bijutsu kégei, no. 389 (1971): 42-45.
Maeda Toshiko. “Ono Otsu.” In Nyonin no sho, 96-103. Tokyo: K6dansha, 1974.
Soda Koichi. “Ono Otsu to Joruri monogatari.” In Nihon josei no rekishi, edited by Tsubota Itsuo. No.
4, Sengoku jidai no josei, 104-106. Tokyo: Gyo Kydiku Tosho Kabushiki-gaisha, 1982.
Sudo Motome. Ono Otsu. Tokyo: 1917. This book was reprinted as an article in Teikoku bungaku, vol.
12:12 (1906): 3-21.
Yanagida Kunio. “Ono Otsu.” Bungaku, vol. 7, no. 5 (1939): 583-604.

Raikin

Aimi Kou. “Ko Fuyo to Raikin.” Nanga kenkyii, no. 2:8-10.

Rengetsu
Akai Tatsuro. “Otagaki Rengetsu.” In Nihon bunka. Vol. 3, Kinsei no gaka. Tokyo: Kadokawa Shoten,
1976.
Bi to kogei, no. 160. Kyoto: Kyoto Shoin, 1970.
Bokubi, no. 103 (1961.1).
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 ”
Iwahashi Kunie. “Otagaki Rengetsu.” In Zusetsu jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, edited by Soga Tetsufu.
Vol. 7, Edoki josei no bi to gei, 109-124. Tokyo: Shogakukan, 1980.
Katagiri Akinori. ‘‘Otagaki Rengetsu.”” In Nihon jorya bungaku shi, edited by Yoshida Seiichi, 123-137.
Tokyo: Dobun Shoin, 1969.
Koresawa Kyozo, Tanaka Junji, Tokuda Koen, Mitsuoka Tadanari, and Murai Yasuhiko. Rengetsu.
Tokyo: Kodansha, 1971.
Kuroda Ryoji. “Rengetsu o kataru.” Tosetsu, no. 9 (1961): 28-39.
Kyoto Furitsu Sogo Shiryokan. Otagaki Rengetsu: Bakumatsu joryi kajin no shoga to togei. Kyoto:
Kyoto Furitsu Sogo Shiryokan, 1984.
Maeda Toshiko. Bunjin shofu. Vol. 11, Rengetsu. Kyoto: Tankosha, 1979.
Maeda Toshiko. “Rengetsu-ni.” Nihon bijutsu kégei, no. 399 (1971.12): 64-67.
Maeda Toshiko. “Rengetsu-ni.” In Nyonin no sho, 190-196. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1974.
Murakami Sodo, ed. Rengetsu-ni zenshu. Kyoto: 1927. Reprint. Kyoto: Shibunkaku, 1980.
Sayama Susumu. ‘“Otagaki Rengetsu no uta.” In Nihon jorya bungaku hyoron, edited by Imai Kuniko,
301-308. Tokyo: Echigoya Shobo, 1943.
Shimizu (Fueoka) Hogan. “Shinshin datsuraku.” In Bijin Zen, 258-264. Tokyo: Uchiushi Shuppansha,
1915.
Soma Gyoft. Teishin to Chiyo to Rengetsu. Tokyo: Shunshusha, 1930.
Sugimoto Hidetard. Otagaki Rengetsu. Kyoto: Tankésha, 1976.
Sumi, vol. 44 (September 1983). Tokyo: Geijutsu Shinbunsha.
Tokuda Koen. Rengetsu-ni no shin kenkyu. Kyoto: Sanmitsud6 Shoten, 1958.
Tokuda Koen. Otagaki Rengetsu. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1982. (Contains a comprehensive bibliography of
books and articles on Rengetsu)
Ubukata Tatsue. “Otagaki Rengetsu.” In Jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, edited by Enchi Fumiko, vol. 10,
73-96. Tokyo: Shteisha, 1977.
Ubukata Tatsue. “Rengetsu-ni to Boto-ni.” In Nihon josei no rekishi, edited by Tsubota Itsue. No. 6,
Bakumatsu ishin no josei, 42-47. Tokyo: Gyo Kyoiku Tosho Kabushiki-gaisha, 1982.

Ryonen
Addiss, Stephen. “The Zen Nun Ryonen Gensho (1646-1711).” Spring Wind, vol. 6, nos. 1, 2 and 3
(1986): 180-187.
Daishishi Kurin. “Ni Ryonen.” Kanso, vol. 22 (1924): 9-18.
Hasegawa Shigure. “Ryonen-ni.” Denki, 2/1 (1935): 52-57.
Komatsu Shigemi. Nihon shoseki taikan, vol. 20, no. 84. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1979.
Mori Oky6. Kinko zenrin sodan, 267-269. Tokyo: Zoky6 Shoin, 1919.
Mori Senzo. “Ryonen-ni.” In Mori Senz6 chosaku shi, vol. 9, 217-238. Tokyo: Chuokoronsha, 1971.
Nagata Tairyo. Obaku Rydnen-ni monogatari. Kyoto: Wako Insatsu Kabushiki-gaisha, 1984.
Nagata Tairyo, ed. Shijitsu RyOnen-ni. Kyoto: Wako Insatsu Kabushiki-gaisha, 1984.
Shimizu (Fueoka) Hogan. “‘Shosan fugai no koe: Ryonen-ni.” In Bijin Zen, 51-58. Tokyo: Uchiushi
Shuppansha, 1915.

Ryu-jo
Ushiyama Mitsuru. “Yamazaki Ryu-jo ko.” Fusui bunko, no. 6 (May 1933): 1-18.

Saiko
Ema Saik6. Shomu iké. Tokyo: 1872. Reprint. Ogaki: Ogaki Shi Bunka Zairyoku Kai, 1960.
Fujimori Seikichi. ‘Ema Saiko.” In Shirarezaru kisai tensai, 249-276. Tokyo: Shunshtsha, 1965.
Fujimoto Giichi. “Ema Saiko.” In Zusetsu jinbutsu Nihon no josei shi, edited by Soga Tetsufu. Vol. 7,
Edoki josei no bi to gei, 69-84. Tokyo: Shogakukan, 1980.
Gifu Ken Rekishi Kyoiku Kenkyt Kai. “Kanbungaku no joryu shijin: Ema Saiko.” In Nohi jinbutsu shi.
Gifu: 1985.
Hiroshima Kenritsu Bijutsukan. Rai San’
yo o chashin to shita nanga ten. Hiroshima: Hiroshima
Kenritsu Bijutsukan, 1984.
Ito Shin. “Rai San’yo to Saiko Joshi.” Toyo bunka, nos. 30-34 (1926-1927).
Ito Shin. Saikd to Koran. Gifu: Yabase Rytkichi, 1969.

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 Kado Reiko. Ema Saiké. Tokyo: BOC Shuppanbu, 1979.
Kasugai Rytd6. “Saik6 Joshi to San’y6 Sensei.” Fude no tomo, no. 254: 1-3.
Konishi Shird and Naramoto Tatsuya, eds. Rai San’yo ten. Tokyo: Otsuka Kogeisha, 1982.
Matsui Yukiko. “Saiko to Koran.” In Nishi Mino waga machi, no. 52 (1981.9): 10-15.
Matsushita Hidemaro. “Mino no futa meika.” Tohd bungei, no. 14 (1955): 9-10.
Naramoto Tatsuya. ‘“*K6ran to Saik6.” In Nihon josei no rekishi, edited by Tsubota Itsuo. No. 6,
Bakumatsu ishin no josei, 50-52. Tokyo: Gyo Kydiku Tosho Kabushiki-gaisha, 1982.
Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan. Ogaki no senken ten: Ransai to Satko. Ogaki: Ogaki Shi Bunka Kaikan,
1979.
Soeda Tatsumine. “Ema Saiko to Yanagawa Koran.” Toei, vol. 12, no. 3 (1936): 21-24.
Soeda Tatsumine. ‘“San’y6 to Saik6 Joshi.” Gajin kawa (1928): 115-132.
Tominaga Chdjo. Mino Ogaki no senken, 70-94. Ogaki: 1979.

Seiko
Fujikake Shizuya. “Mciji gadan no joketsu Okuhara Seiko.” Toei, vol. 12, no. 3 (1936): 29-31.
Fujikake Shizuya, ed. Okuhara Seiko gashi. Tokyo: Kogeisha, 1933.
Fussa Shi Ky6do Shiryoshitsu. Keishi gaka: Okuhara Seiko. Fussa: Fussa Shi Kyoiku Iinkai, 1985.
Inamura Ryohei, ed. Okuhara Seiko. Tokyo: Seiko Shuppanbu, 1929.
Ishii Hakutei. ‘““Okuhara Seiko.” Chao bijutsu, vol. 3, no. 7 (July 1917): 142-171.
Katsura Hidezumi. Joketsu gaka: Okuhara Seiko. Saitama Ginko Kohobu Koho Tanto G.
Kawashima Junji. Okuhara Seiko. Tsuchiura: Chikunami Shorin, 1985.
Muramatsu Shofu. ‘“Okuhara Seiko.” In Honcho gajin den, vol. 2, 369-413. Tokyo: Chuokoronsha,
1941.
Saitama Kenritsu Hakubutsukan. Tokubetsu ten: Okuhara Seiko ten zuroku. Omiya: Saitama Kenritsu
Hakubutsukan, 1978. (Contains a comprehensive bibliography of books and articles on Seiko)
Takami Yasusaburo. “Shuyo jidai no Okuhara Seiko.” Denki, vol. 2, no. 6 (1935): 10-19.
Yamanouchi Chozo. “Okuhara Seiko: Kanojo no ikikata to sakuhin.” Sansai, no. 351 (November 1976):
44-57.
Yamanouchi Chozo. ““Okuhara Seiko no gagyo to funpon.” In Nihon nanga shi, 395-408. Tokyo: Riru
Shob6, 1981.

Shogen
Komatsu Shigemi, ed. “Sasaki Shogen.” In Nihon shoseki taikan, vol. 19, no. 46. Tokyo: Kodansha,
1979.
Komatsu Shigemi. “Shizuma ryt.” In Nihon shoryti zenshi, vol. 1, 676-682. Tokyo: Kédansha, 1970.
Yoneda Yataro. ““Shizuma ryi to karay6 ni tsuite.”” Shoron, no. 11 (Autumn 1977): 137-158.

Shohin
Atomi Gyokushi. “Shohin-san no omoide.” Chid bijutsu, no. 3:4 (April 1917): 25-29.
Harada Heisaku. “Noguchi Shohin.” In Bakumatsu Meiji kyoraku no gajintachi, 179-188. Kyoto: Kyoto
Shinbunsha, 1985.
Kosaka Shibata. “Noguchi Shohin Joshi no geijutsu.” Chiao bijutsu, no. 3:4 (April 1917): 23-25.
Moriya Masahiko. “Noguchi Shohin kenkyi.” Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan kenkya kiyo, no. 3 (1981):
1-50. “oy
Moriya Masahiko. “Noguchi Shohin no inpu ho i.” Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan kenkyii kiyo, no. 4
(1982): 60-68.
Noguchi Iku, ed. Shdhin iboku sha. 2 vols. Tokyo: Tokyo Bijutsu Kurabu, 1929.
Noguchi Iku. ‘*Watashi no haha Noguchi Shohin.”” Toei, vol. 12, no. 3 (1936): 32-36.
“Noguchi Shohin nenpu.” Chito bijutsu, no. 3:4 (April 1917): 27-29.
Noguchi Shokei. Watashi no haha. 1929.
Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan. Noguchi Shohin ten zuroku. K6fu: Yamanashi Kenritsu Bijutsukan,
1982. (Contains a comprehensive bibliography of books and articles on Shohin)

190
Shunsa
Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan. Mito no nanga. Mito: Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan, 1978.
Ogawa Tomoji. “Hayashi Jikko-Tachihara Kydsho to sono sakuhin.” Kobijutsu, no. 61 (January 1982):
61-83.
Ohashi Bisho. ‘“‘Geien zatsuwa.” Kaiga soshi, no. 224 (1905): 15-16.
Saito Ryuzo. “Mito no shi gajin.” Gasetsu, no. 4: 53-62.
“Tachihara Shunsa hitsu kiku seki zu kai.” Kokka, no. 588 (November 1939): 349-350 and 353.
Tobita Shazan. “Tachihara Shunsa Joshi.” Téei, vol. 12, no. 3 (1936): 25-26.

Yukinobu
“Kiyohara Yukinobu hitsu naka, Sei Shonagon, saya uzura zu.” Kokka, no. 605 (April 1941): 116-121.
“Kiyohara Yukinobu hitsu O Sho-kimi zu.” Kokka, no. 597 (August 1940): 239.
Narazaki Muneshige. ““Kiyohara Yukinobu hitsu nyobo sanjurokkasen zu.” Kokka, no. 712 (July 1951):
253 and 255-256.
Narazaki Muneshige. ‘Yukinobu hitsu Yo Ki-hi zu.” Kokka, no. 829 (April 1961): 144-146.
Soeda Tatsumine. “Onna Yukinobu no hanashi.” Toe, vol. 12, no. 3 (1936): 9-11.
“Yukinobu.” Kokka, no. 63 (December 1894): 281.

19]
 Index

A Ehon imayo sugata, 26

Ei, 129. See Katsushika Oi
Aikawaya, 56 Eihetji, 56
Ama no karumo, 145, 150
Eisen, 129
Amaterasu, 69
Ejima Kiseki, 11
Ameishi, 72, 79 Ema Ransai, 100-102
Ando Hiroshige, 141 Ema Saiko, 97-103, 110-113, 115
Aoki Mokubei, 152
Ema Tenko, 102, 105
Asahi Bunzaemon, 72
Emi Kohei, 156
Awazu Shinanonosuke, 35
Erin, 71. See Ohashi

B F
Baiitsu. See Yamamoto Batitsu Fenollosa, Ernest, 160
Baishi, 101 Fujiwara no Kinto, 14
Bakurinsha Otsuyu, 55 Fuki, 128
Basho. See Matsuo Basho Fukumasuya, 55, 56
Bokutoen’unro, 162, 169 Fukuzawa Yukichi, 14, 160
Buncho. See Tani Buncho Fuyo. See Ko Fuyo

C G
Ch’ti Yiian, 114 Gado yoketsu, 33
Chang Jui-t’u, 161 Genji monogatari, 12, 14, 25, 40, 70, 143
Cheng Hsieh, 169 Genkuji, 87
Cheng Pan-ch’iao. See Cheng Hsieh Genzui. See Koishi Teien
Chiang Yiin-ko (J: Ko Unkaku), 102, 104 Go-Mizunoo, Emperor, 27, 28
Chigusa Arikoto, 143 Go-Y0zei, Emperor, 27
Chikamatsu Monzaemon, 11 Gooka, 162
Chikka, 102 Gosho, 62
Chikuto. See Nakabayashi Chikut6 Goshun, 149
Chion’in, 37, 144-146 Goto Shoin, 102
Chiyo. See Kaga no Chiyo Gozan. See Wada Gesshin
Chiyo-jo, 48 Gozando shiwa, 97
Chiyo-ni. See Kaga no Chiyo Gyokkei, 75. See Yanagisawa Kien
Chiyo-ni kushu, 57 Gyokuran. See Ike Gyokuran
Cho Koran, 97-99, 102-105, 115, 117-121 Gyokurin, 100, 102, 111
Choboin Sankyo, 62 Gyozenji, 56
Chokotei Undo, 136
Chomu Rokei, 117
Chuang Tzu, 58, 153 H
Chishingura, 137 Hakuin Ekaku, 70, 71
Hakuo, 28, 30
D Hakuosha, 98, 99, 102, 104
Hakuu, 62
Daikyian, 28 Hamada Kyodo, 95
Daitokuji, 29 Hankansha, 163
Dokuhon, 105 Hasegawa, 173
Hasegawa Ichiré, 171
E Hayashi. See Tani Kankan, 86
Heian jinbutsu shi, 15, 86, 99, 103, 104, 106, 145
E-iri nichiyo onna choho-ki, 130, 134, 135 Heian Shosha, 79
Edo meibutsu nishiki-e kosaku, 127 Hidetada. See Tokugawa Hidetada
Ehon fiiga nana komachi kinki shoga, 47 Hideyoshi. See Toyotomi Hideyoshi

192
Higashi Fushimi, Princess, 167 Kakeiji, 104
Higashi Honganji, 56 Kakuju-jo, 128, 130, 137-139, 183
Higuchi Ichiyo, 161 Kamo no Mabuchi, 69
Hine Taizan, 166, 179 Kankan. See Tani Kankan
Hirai Renzan, 128 Kano Masanobu, 33
Hiramatsu, 65 Kano Motonobu, 33
Hirata Suiseki, 161, 162 Kano Naonobu, 33
Hishikawa Moronobu, 48, 135 Kano Tan’yu, 33, 34, 40
Hitori kangae, 11 Kano Yasunobu, 33, 34
Ho-shi Shunei-jo, 128 Kaoru, 35
Hokuba, 129 Kase, 130
Hokuei, 127 Kato Chikage, 157
Hokuga, 129 Katsura Miki, 48
Hokuju, 129 Katsura Soshin, 48
Hokumei, 127 Katsurayama Tamehisa, 28
Hokusai. See Katsushika Hokusai Katsushika Hokusai, 127-133, 135, 136
Hokyoji, 28, 30 Katsushika Oi, 127-136
Hokyoji no Amamiya, 35 Katsushika Tatsu, 127, 128, 130, 136
Honcho taoyame soroi, \27 Kawakami Togai, 164
Horyuji, 65 Kayane Ichio, 162
Hsia Ch’ang, 111, 161 Kazuko, 27. See Tofukumon’in
Hsieh Shih-ch’en, 161 Keien school, 145
Huai-su, 105, 123 Ken’ yu fujo kagami, 60, 61, 127
Huang Kung-wang, 119 Kenjo hakkei, 127
Hyaku meika gafu, 104 Kenjo reppuden, 72, 73, 127
Hyakunin isshu, 165 Kido Takayoshi, 161, 163, 164, 166
Hyakunin joro shina sadame, 48 Kien. See Yanagisawa Kien
Kikuchi Gozan, 97

I Kikuchi Togan, 63
Kikusha, 55, 61-67, 144
Ichijian, 62. See Kikusha Kimura, 73
Ieyasu. See Tokugawa Ieyasu Kimura Kenkado, 95
Ihara Saikaku, 11, 35 Kinsei tjin den, 35
Ike Gyokuran, 69, 74, 75, 81, 82, 84-90, 92, 97, 112, 182 Kinsei kijin den, 71, 72, 74, 75, 84
Ike Taiga, 75, 85, 86, 88-91 Kinsei meika shogadan, 28
Ikeda Han’uemon Masaaki, 161 Kitagataya Taisui, 55
Iku. See Noguchi Iku Kitagawa Utamaro, 48, 60, 127
Ikutoshi, 128 Kitao Shigemasa, 48
Inagaki Tsuru-jo, 48, 49, 53, 54 Kiyohara Hirano Morikiyo, 34
Ise monogatari, 48 Kiyohara Yukinobu, 33-42, 182
Ishigaki Tohei, 165 Kiyu-jo, 48
Ito Munenaga, 62 Ko Fuyo, 86, 92
Ito Tosho, 86 Ko Raikin, 84-86, 91-94, 97
Ko Unkaku. See Chiang Yiin-ko
Kodai Kimi, 156
J Kofukuji, 28
Jidai Matsuri, 72, 146 Kohara Tesshin, 102
Jikken onna 6gi, 127 Koishi Teien, 101
Jinkoin, 146 Kokinshu, 143, 145
Jogaku zasshi, 161 Kokinwakashi, 25
Joryu, 48. See Yamazaki Ryu-jo Kokon honché meijo hyaku den, 127
Konoe, 28
Konoe Motohiro, 40
K Konoe Nobutada, 29
Kaga no Chiyo, 55-62, 65, 67, 127, 144, 183 Koran. See Cho Koran
Kagami Shiko, 55 Koran iko, \05
Kagawa Kageki, 143, 145 Koran koshu, 104
Kaibara Ekken, 12 KOosaisha, 102
Kaigetsudo school, 50 Koshoku ichidai otoko, 35
Kaji, 69, 71-75, 78-82, 127 Koto shoga jinmei roku, 143
Kaji no ha, 72, 78, 79 Koyama Kagai, 162

193
 Kumano Shrine, 145, 153 N
Kumazawa Banzan, 12
Kunihisa I, 128 Naemura Johaku, 135
Kunika-me, 127 Nagahara Baien, 128
Kuniko, 34 Naito Toho, 56
Kuniku-me, 128 Nakabayashi Chikuto, 101, 103, 104, 113, 116, 118,
Kunisada. See Tsunoda Kunisada 119, 161, 180
Kunito-me, 127 Nakabayashi Seishuku, 180
Kuniyoshi. See Utagawa Kuniyoshi Nakada Sando, 95
Kurihara Isso, 70, 71 Nakae Toju, 12
Kuroda Koryo, 153 Nakajima Raisho, 149
Kusumi Morikage, 34 Nakanoin Michishige, 72
Kyokutei. See Takizawa Bakin Nanakyokutei Gyokugi, 136
Kyujo Tanemichi, 26 Nao, 130
Narihira, 48
Nihon Bijutsu Kyokai, 167
L Nishikawa Sukenobu, 48, 51, 52
Lan Ying, 119 Nishikawa Terunobu, 48
Li Shih-ta, 161 Nobu, 144. See Otagaki Rengetsu
Lieh-nii chuan (J: Retsujo den), 12 Nobunaga. See Oda Nobunaga
Noguchi Iku (Shokei), 168
Noguchi Masaakira, 166, 167
Noguchi Shohin, 15, 161, 165-168, 174-180, 182
M Nomura Boto, 145
Nozawa Suiseki, 95
Machi, 74, 75. See Ike Gyokuran
Maeda, 57, 100
Makura no soshi, 41
O
Makuzu. See Tadano Makuzu
Makuzuan, 144 O’ie style, 156
Man’ yoshi, 69, 143 Obaku Ingen, 30
Manko, Empress, 167 Oda Kaisen, 99
Manpukuji, 62 Oda Nobunaga, 26, 27
Masaakira. See Noguchi Masaakira Oei, 129. See Katsushika Oi
Matsuda Bansui, 28 Ohashi, 69-71, 76, 77
Matsudaira, 144 Oi. See Katsushika Oi
Matsudaira Sadanobu, 12, 13 Oi no kobumi, 62
Matsumura Keibun, 149 Okakura Kakuzo (Tenshin), 163
Matsumura Shuntai, 165 Okamoto Koseki, 105
Matsuo Basho, 55, 61, 62 Okamura Yoshichiro, 106, 125
Matsuya, 71-74, 78 Okon. See Tokai Okon
Meiji, Emperor, 160, 166 Okubo Shibutsu, 97
Meng Huo-jan, 119 Okuda, 86
Mi Fu, 118, 170 Okuhara Seiko, 161-173, 180, 183
Mikuma Katen, 74, 75 Okumura Masanobu, 47, 48
Minamizawa Tomei, 128 Okura Ryazan, 101, 103, 113, 116
Mino fuga, 102 Omiyo, 130
Mino school, 55 Omurodchiki, 72
Mitsui Shuho, 11 Onna choho-ki, 135. See E-iri nichiyé onna chohé-ki
Miyazaki Yuzen, 79 Onna daigaku, 12, 25, 182
Mizuno Shuho, 128 Ono Kozan, 105
Mochihisa, 144 Ono Masahide, 26
Mori Arinori, 14, 160 Ono Ozu, 26-29, 35, 69, 183
Mori Baimon, 65 Onuma Chinzan, 162
Moronobu. See Hishikawa Moronobu Oryu, 48. See Yamazaki Ryi-jo
Mu Ch’1, 161 Oshima, 86. See K6 Raikin
Mu-me, 48 Otagaki Rengetsu, 143-146, 149-157, 183
Mugaian Kihaku, 57 Otetsu, 130
Murasaki Shikibu, 14, 40, 41, 69, 143 Otowako, 128
Murase Sekkyo, 115 Otsu. See Ono Ozi.
Murata, 61 Ozawa Roan, 145
Mutobe Yoshika, 145 Ozu. See Ono Ozu

194
P Setsuko, 161. See Okuhara Seiko
Settei. See Tsukioka Settei
Peer’s Girls School, 167
Shen Chou, 161
Po Chi-i, 41
Shen Nan-p’in, 91, 161, 173
Shibata Zeshin, 128
R Shikibu. See Takabatake Shikibu
Shikitei Sanba, 129, 131
Rai Mikisaburo, 102
Shiko. See Kagami Shiko
Rai San’yo, 73, 75, 97-99, 101-106, 110, 111, 113, Shin Kokinsha, 143
Se Sel e2 Ise 25. Shinjotomon’in, 27
Raikin. See Ko Raikin Shinozaki Shochiku, 106, 125
Ran-jo, 48
Shiokawa Shima no Kami, 26
Ransai. See Ema Ransai Shirofuyo, 75
Reiki Ginsha, 102
Shisen, 56
Reizei Jakujo, 71
Shizuma. See Sasaki Shizuma
Reizei school, 70
Shochiku. See Shinozaki Shochiku
Reizei (Okada) Tamechika, 156
Shogen. See Sasaki Shogen
Reizei Tamemura, 72, 73, 75, 80, 81 Shogoin, 71, 145
Rengetsu. See Otagaki Rengetsu Shohin. See Noguchi Shohin
Rengetsu Shikibu nijo waka shi, 145 Shokado Shojo, 30
Renjoin, 28 Shomu iké, 103
Retsujo den, 12. See Lieh-nti chuan Shoren’in school, 29
Rie, 101 Shosai, 100
Rikasonso, 104 Shotoku Taishi, 65
Ritsu, 70. See Ohashi Shuenjo, 115
Ruidai wakana shi, 75 Shuho. See Mitsui Shuho
Ryonen. See Ryonen Genso Shunchogakusha, 163
Ryonen Genso, 26, 28, 30, 31, 69
Shunkin. See Uragami Shunkin
Ryut-jo. See Yamazaki Ryu-jo Shunko-me, 48, 53
Ryutko, 128 Shunsa. See Tachihara Shunsa
Ryusui, 65 Shiran. See Yoshida Shtran
Ryitei, 180 So Rikunyo, 95
Ryuzan. See Okura Ryazan Son’en, Prince, 29
Sorinji, 75
Su Shih, 122, 161
S Sui-yiian. See Yuan Mei, 97
Sadaka-me, 128, 130, 137 Sui-ylian nii-ti-tzu hstian, 97
Saikaku. See Ihara Saikaku Suiseki. See Hirata Suiseki
Saiko. See Ema Saiko Sukegawa Rokud6, 106, 125
Sakuma Shozan, 12 Sukenobu. See Nishikawa Sukenobu
Sakuragi, 145 Sukeroku yukari no Edo zakura, 138, 139
San, 48 Suye, 56
San’yo. See Rai San’yo
Sanjurokuninsen, 14
T
Sankai medetai zue, 128, 130, 140
Santo Kyoden, 48 T’ao Yuian-ming, 45, 90, 112
Sasaki Shizuma, 35, 43, 45 Tachibana Jihei, 65
Sasaki Shogen, 33-35, 43-45 Tachihara Kyosho, 100
Sato Chiryo, 108 Tachihara Shunsa, 97, 99, 100, 107, 109
Sayuri ba, 73 Tadano Makuzu, 11
Sei Shonagon, 41 Tagami Michi, 61. See Kikusha
Seigan. See Yanagawa Seigan Tagami Yoshinaga, 61
Seiko. See Okuhara Seiko Taiga. See Ike Taiga
Seiran. See Watanabe Seiran Taigado Teiryo, 89
Seishuku. See Nakabayashi Seishuku Taiunji, 28
Seisui, 163 Takabatake Kiyone, 143
Seitosha, 161 Takabatake Shikibu, 143-145, 147, 148
Sekko, 129. See Tokutokusai Takai Kozan, 129
Sekkotei, 129 Takai Ranzan, 135
Sen Hime, 27 Takai Sankuro, 130
Sencha jibiki no shu, 130 Takami Senseki, 162

195
 Takayoshi. See Kido Takayoshi Wang Yiian-ch’i, 161
Takeda Shingen, 28 Watanabe Kazan, 100, 107, 109, 162
Takizawa Bakin, 11, 75 Watanabe Seiran, 165, 168, 171
Takuan Soho, 29 Watarai Bunryusai, 65
Tan’yu. See Kano Tan’yu Wazoku dojikun, 12
Tanaka Soshin, 156 Wen Cheng-ming, 161
Tane, 61 Wu Chen, 161
Tani Buncho, 86, 87, 94-96, 161
Tani Kankan, 84-87, 94-97
Y
Tani Tesshin, 175
Tanomura Chikuden, 86, 99 Yamamoto Baiitsu, 101, 113
Taorigiku, 65, 67 Yamanaka Shinten’6, 105
Tatsu. See Katsushika Tatsu Yamanouchi YOd6, 163
Teiso setsugi kokin meifu hyakushu, 27 Yamaoka Geppo, 73
Tenjuin, 27. See Sen Hime Yamazaki Bunzaemon, 48
Tenmin, 146 Yamazaki Ryt-jo, 48-52
Tessai. See Tomioka Tessai Yanagawa Koran. See Cho Koran
Tetsugyu, 28 Yanagawa Seigan, 98, 99, 102, 104, 105, 117, 119
Toda, 102 Yanagisawa Kien, 74, 75, 86
Todo, 144 Yanagita Sai-jo, 128
Tofukumon’in, 28, 30 Yen Chen-ch’ing, 35, 43, 45
Tokai Okon, 97, 99, 105, 106, 122-125, 183 Yen Hui, 37
Tokugawa Hidetada, 27 Y6do shogei kydéso, 129, 130
Tokugawa hyakkajo, 10 Yodogimi, 26
Tokugawa Ieyasu, 9, 27 Yokoi Yayu, 56
Tokutokusai, 129 Yoshi-jo, 128
Tokuyama, 74 Yoshida Hanbei, 48, 135
Tomioka Tessai, 145, 146 Yoshida Nangai, 103
Torii Kiyonobu, 69, 70 Yoshida Shoin, 12
Tosa Mitsuoki, 40 Yoshida Shiran, 97, 99, 101, 103, 114, 116
Tosei meika kidan, 99 Yoshinokimi, 30
Toyokuni. See Utagawa Toyokuni I Yoshioka Yayoi, 161
Toyokuni IT. See Utagawa Toyokuni II Yoshitama, 128
Toyotomi Hideyori, 27 Yoshitori, 128-130, 140, 141
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, 26, 27 Yotsugi, 70
Tsukioka Settei, 48, 49, 53, 54 Yuan Mei, 97, 102
Tsuna-jo, 48 Yukinobu. See Kiyohara Yukinobu
Tsunoda Kunisada, 127, 130, 137 Yuri, 69, 73-75, 80-82
Tsutsumi Torin III, 128
Tsuyuki litsu, 129
Tsuzoku Washinton den, 163 Z
Tu Fu, 43
Zoku kinsei kijin den, 35, 84
Tung Ch’i-ch’ang, 104 Zuien jodaiko shisensen, 102

U
Ueda Akinari, 145
Ueda Chikako, 145
Unge, 101
Uragami Gyokudo, 103
Uragami Shunkin, 101, 102, 111-113, 118
Utagawa Kuniyoshi, 60, 72, 127, 128, 130, 140, 141
Utagawa Toyokuni I, 60, 127, 128
Utagawa Toyokuni II, 127, 128
Utamaro. See Kitagawa Utamaro

Ww
Wada Gesshin, 146
Wang Tzu-yu, 119
Wang Wei, 119

196
Lenders to the Exhibition

Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, The Avery Brundage Collection

Mary Baskett Gallery
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Brest
Mrs. Mary Griggs Burke
The Mary and Jackson Burke Foundation
Dr. and Mrs. George A. Colom
Ema Shojiro
Hakutakuan Collection
Harvard University Art Museums (Arthur M. Sackler Museum)
Hasegawa Yoshikazu
Hirose Choji
Ibaragi Kenritsu Rekishikan
Idemitsu Art Museum
Kato Shoshun
Estate of Louis Vernon Ledoux
Mr. and Mrs. Leighton R. Longhi
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
Marui Kenzaburo
Mizutani Ishinosuke
Muboan Collection
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Springfield, Massachusetts
Museum of Modern Art, Saitama, Japan
Nagoya City Museum
Nakagami Ryota
Noguchi Chuzo
Otaka Fukutaro
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Private collections (The Hague, Japan, and the United States)
Prof. Dr. Med. Gerhard Pulverer
Robert Ravicz
Mr. and Mrs. William J. Rushton
The Shin’enkan Collection
Shoka Collection
Spencer Museum of Art
Tokuriki Collection
Yanagi Takashi

197
Photographs courtesy of respective lenders except Cat. Nos. 2, 10-11, 21-22, 25-29,
36, 38,40-41, 44-45,
47, 49-57, 61, 69, 72, 74, 77-78, 82, 88 by Jon Blumb; Nos. 5, 31-32, 70, 73 by
Otto E. Nelson; No. 12
by Isaac Brussee; and Nos. 4, 7, 13 by Pollitzer, Strong & Meyer.
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