Lot Essay
See Forrer, Matthi, Hokusai, Prints and Drawings (Munich and London: Prestel Verlag and Royal Academy of Arts, 1991), no. 99, where the author states that this print dates from 1829
An urchin tugs at the bridle of an ox bearing a townswoman; her companion on foot has paused to clean her pipe. The vantage point is Shichirigahama Beach, off the coast of Kamakura. In the background is Koyurugi Promontory near the town of Koshigoe; Enoshima Island lies to the left in the distance. The view is notably similar to that of the artist's well-known print "Shichirigahama in Sagami Province" from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji--with the exception that Mount Fuji is conspicuously absent in this surimono version.
Surimono related to Enoshima were commonly produced for Snake Years due to the close connection between Benzaiten (the deity worshipped at Enoshima) and snake legends. Yet, as Forrer has noted, stylistic considerations and the presence of the ox suggest a dating to 1829, an Ox Year.
The kyoka on the right by Kajuan Fukumaro, reads:
kachu to wa
kogane no kame ni
Tsurugaoka
Horaisan mo
yoso naranu haru
Though I stay at home,
Golden Turtle Peak,
Crane Hill Shrine,
and the Mountain of the Immortals
are all nearby this spring.
Turtles and cranes because of their associations with longevity are common auspicious images in New Year's poems. Here the poet interweaves punning references to famous sites in the vicinity of Shichirigahama. Kogane no kame ("Golden Turtle") clearly refers to Kinkizan (Golden Turtle Peak), which is another name for Enoshima Island. Tsurugaoka (Crane Hill) is the locale of the famous Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. Horaisan, the name of the legendary mountain-island where the immortals are said to dwell, is the poetic designation for Mount Fuji. The word horai or horaizan, moreover, can refer to the New Year's arrangement used to decorate homes during the New Year. Therefore, the poet suggests that even when housebound he can enjoy the delightful scenes of spring. Interestingly, the last two lines of the poem are derived from a passage from the auspicious No play Tsurukame (The Crane and Turtle) in which Mount Fuji is referred to as the "Mountain of the Immortals which is nearby" (Horaisan mo yoso narazu).
The poem on the left, by the prominent kyoka leader Shuchodo (Monoyana), puns on the name of the Ikiai-gawa (literally, "coming-to-meet river"), also in the Kamakura area:
Enoshima o
kasumi mo shikiru
kozo kotoshi
Ikiaigawa ni
haru ya tatsuramu
While mists spread
over Enoshima Island,
the passing and coming years
have met at Ikiai River--
so spring must be here!
An urchin tugs at the bridle of an ox bearing a townswoman; her companion on foot has paused to clean her pipe. The vantage point is Shichirigahama Beach, off the coast of Kamakura. In the background is Koyurugi Promontory near the town of Koshigoe; Enoshima Island lies to the left in the distance. The view is notably similar to that of the artist's well-known print "Shichirigahama in Sagami Province" from the Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji--with the exception that Mount Fuji is conspicuously absent in this surimono version.
Surimono related to Enoshima were commonly produced for Snake Years due to the close connection between Benzaiten (the deity worshipped at Enoshima) and snake legends. Yet, as Forrer has noted, stylistic considerations and the presence of the ox suggest a dating to 1829, an Ox Year.
The kyoka on the right by Kajuan Fukumaro, reads:
kachu to wa
kogane no kame ni
Tsurugaoka
Horaisan mo
yoso naranu haru
Though I stay at home,
Golden Turtle Peak,
Crane Hill Shrine,
and the Mountain of the Immortals
are all nearby this spring.
Turtles and cranes because of their associations with longevity are common auspicious images in New Year's poems. Here the poet interweaves punning references to famous sites in the vicinity of Shichirigahama. Kogane no kame ("Golden Turtle") clearly refers to Kinkizan (Golden Turtle Peak), which is another name for Enoshima Island. Tsurugaoka (Crane Hill) is the locale of the famous Hachiman Shrine in Kamakura. Horaisan, the name of the legendary mountain-island where the immortals are said to dwell, is the poetic designation for Mount Fuji. The word horai or horaizan, moreover, can refer to the New Year's arrangement used to decorate homes during the New Year. Therefore, the poet suggests that even when housebound he can enjoy the delightful scenes of spring. Interestingly, the last two lines of the poem are derived from a passage from the auspicious No play Tsurukame (The Crane and Turtle) in which Mount Fuji is referred to as the "Mountain of the Immortals which is nearby" (Horaisan mo yoso narazu).
The poem on the left, by the prominent kyoka leader Shuchodo (Monoyana), puns on the name of the Ikiai-gawa (literally, "coming-to-meet river"), also in the Kamakura area:
Enoshima o
kasumi mo shikiru
kozo kotoshi
Ikiaigawa ni
haru ya tatsuramu
While mists spread
over Enoshima Island,
the passing and coming years
have met at Ikiai River--
so spring must be here!