Title : Ariwara no Narihira

Artist : Katsushika Hokusai

Date : c. 1833 - 1834

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Source : Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description : Ariwara no Narihira is considered on of the best poets in the history of Japanese literature. He was also a very handsome man and flamboyant in his behavior. He is considered the model for the romamtic hero of the Tales of Ise. In this print, a peasant family pounds cloth fiber under a full moon. We do not know precisely which poem by Narihira inspired Hokusai to compose this scene, but the templelike building in the distance suggests that the subject is specific. The sitting and flying geese indicate that the season is late autumn. (Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, “Hokusai and Hiroshige”, 1998)

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