Title : The Priest Kisen

Artist : Utagawa Kuniyoshi

Date : c. 1840

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : This print was conserved with the support of the Robert F. Lange Foundation. Considered to be one of Japan's greatest woodblock print artists, Kuniyoshi created a series of a hundred prints based on the renowned poetry collection known as Hyakunin Isshu (One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets), compiled by the famous poet Fujiwara Teika (1162-1241). The anthology was also the subject of many prints by such artists as Utagawa Toyokuni (1769-1825) and Utagawa Hiroshige (1797-1858), both from the same school of print design as Kuniyoshi. The author of the poem depicted in this print is Kisen, a Heian-period Buddhist monk and poet of whom little is known except that he lived near Mount Uji in present-day Hyögo Prefecture. He is shown seated at the edge of his hut overlooking a nearby lake and a mountain, while a servant sweeps up fallen leaves. At the top of the print is Kisen's poem: My hut is to the capital's southeast and thus I live. But people call it 'Uji, hill of one weary of the world,' I hear. (translation by Joshua S. Mostow)

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