Poem by Abe no Nakamaro, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki). Artist: Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, Tokyo (Edo) 1760-1849 Tokyo (Edo)). Culture: Japan. Dimensions: 10 3/8 x 14 7/8 in. (26.4 x 37.8 cm). Date: 1760-1849.
Abe no Nakamaro (698-770) composed this poem in China, in his longing for home:
Amanohara
furisake mireba
Kasuga naru
Mikasa no yama ni
ideshi tsuki ka mo
It might be the moon that shone
above Mount Mikasa in Nara
that I see in this faraway land
when now I look
across the vast fields of the stars.
Technique/matériel:
Polychrome woodblock print; ink and color on paper