Young Man and Woman Caught in the Rain while Enjoying Cherry Blossoms (Sakura-gari)
Suzuki Harunobu Japanese
Not on view
Caught in a sudden downpour, a young woman covers her head with the long sleeve of her kimono and her male companion hastens to open an umbrella. The cloth spread on the ground near a cherry tree in full bloom indicates that they were hoping to enjoy an afternoon of merriment beneath the blossoms.
The anonymous poem adds a dimension of sexual innuendo, because the word for “to be drenched” (nuru) also connotes sexual intercourse. It reads:
Sakura-gari
ame wa furikinu
onajiku wa
nuru to mo hana no
kage ni kakuren.
While searching for cherry
blossoms, it starts to rain,
yet even if we get drenched,
we will still be in the shade
of these flowering trees.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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