Palindromic Poems (Kaibunka): Osaka

ca. 1768

Not on view

Here the actor Nakamura Kumetaro stands reading a book of palindromes in front of a window that looks out on a plum tree in bloom. The poem, a palindrome, at the top of the print reads:

Oshima to mo
tsui ni itsumo to
yuku haru wa
kuyu to mo tsui ni
itsumo tomeshi wo

"Yearn for me," it says,
but somehow it has already passed,
spring, the mists I thought still
lingering
have suddenly cleared.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Provenance

Title: Palindromic Poems (Kaibunka): Osaka
Artist: Torii Kiyotsune (Japanese, active ca. 1757–1779)
Period: Edo period (1615–1868)
Date: ca. 1768
Culture: Japan
Medium: Left sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
Dimensions: 12 3/8 x 5 3/8 in. (31.4 x 13.7 cm)
Classification: Prints
Credit Line: Fletcher Fund, 1929
Object Number: JP1503
Curatorial Department: Asian Art

More Artwork

By Torii Kiyotsune

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Palindromic Poems (Kaibunka): Edo, Torii Kiyomitsu Japanese, One sheet of a triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper, Japan — Palindromic Poems (Kaibunka): Edo
Torii Kiyomitsu
ca. 1768

The Actor Iwai Hanshirō IV as Sakura Hime, the Cherry Princess, Torii Kiyotsune Japanese, Woodblock print; ink and color on paper, Japan — The Actor Iwai Hanshirō IV as Sakura Hime, the Cherry Princess
Torii Kiyotsune
1767

Helmet (<i>Zukinnari Kabuto</i>), Iron, lacquer, Japanese — Helmet (*Zukinnari Kabuto*)
Japanese
16th century

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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
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Armor (<i>Gusoku</i>), Saotome Ietada Japanese, Iron, lacquer, silk, gilt copper, Japanese — Armor (*Gusoku*)
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Armorer Breastplate inscribed inside, Myōchin Munesuke
16th and 18th centuries

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