The hitoe is an unlined kosode robe meant for summer wear, but the flowers and trees in the landscape scenes on this robe represent all four seasons, moving upward from the spring grasses at the hem of the robe, through the cascading wisteria of early summer, on to the brightly colored leaves of autumn, and, finally, reaching the top of the robe with its wintry pine trees, some showing the new growth of spring. Across the sleeves and upper body the characters of a felicitous poem celebrating longevity and happiness make their graceful way from the back of the robe to the front: The children of cranes are the flowers that celebrate one thousand years. Rejoicing in the ages, a ten-thousand-year-old turtle.
