Horse Race at the Kamo Shrine (Kamo kurabeuma zu)

The famous horse race at Kyoto’s Kamo Shrine, held annually on the fifth day of the fifth month since the Heian period, was a ritual event preceding the Aoi Festival (Aoi Matsuri) celebrated on the fifteenth of the month. As in almost all depictions of the Kamo horse race, this folding-screen image shows several handsomely caparisoned horses racing along the track from right to left between temporary fences, as spectators, including aristocrats, priests, samurai, musicians, townspeople and even several Europeans (nanbanjin) look on. Many onlookers are also seated on the veranda of the large hall at the top of the composition. There, an audience is being given by an august individual who is clearly a member of the imperial family, possibly the emperor. The figure kneeling before him on the veranda is a high-ranking cleric, wearing a magnificent kesa (monk’s robe, worn draped over the left shoulder and under the right arm). A child has crawled beneath the veranda to watch the spectacle, adding a touch of humor to the scene. On the left side of the screen, a stream—with two bridges and a large pine tree are the only landscape elements present.

This screen was once the left half of a pair, the missing half of which likely featured the start of the horse race, as well as identifying motifs like the shrine’s torii gate. Of note is the rendition of the clouds, which are edged in blue rather than the gold that is typical of Momoyama-period screens.