Returned to lender The Met accepts temporary loans of art both for short-term exhibitions and for long-term display in its galleries.
Surcoat (Jinbaori)
Not on view
This surcoat (jinbaori) was made to be worn over armor. A poetic inscription rendered in a mixture of highly cursive Chinese characters and characters that are read phonetically (sōgana) is written with brush and ink over the stenciled design of cherry blossoms on blue and white silk. The waka poem on the jacket alludes to the image of scattering blossoms as a metaphor for the evanescent life of warriors. Reading the front and back of the garment as a continuous text, the verse reads:
Saki-idete
hana wa chiru tomo
kaguwashiki
nioi wa yoyo ni
nokosazarame ya
After bursting into bloom,
flowers soon scatter,
but their sweet-scented
fragrance will linger
generation after generation.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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