The Eastern Journey of the Celebrated Poet Ariwara no Narihira

Arts of Asia

c. 1806

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎
Japanese, 1760-1849

This picture is based on the ninth scene in Tales of Ise. Finding life uncomfortable in the capital, Kyoto, the poet traveled east with some friends. They took a river ferry near Mount Fuji and saw a flock of strange birds. In answer to their questions, the ferryman replied, “It is a capital bird, of course.” Stopping on the bank, the poet made this request:

If you are in truth
What your name seems to make you,
I will put it to you,
Capital-bird, this question:
Do things go well with my love?
(Translated by Steven Carter)

Status: Currently Off View
Department: Arts of Asia

Artist: Katsushika Hokusai
Title: The Eastern Journey of the Celebrated Poet Ariwara no Narihira
Place: Japan (Artist's nationality:)
Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.: 1801–1811
Medium: Color woodblock print; nagaban surimono
Dimensions: 19.6 × 53.1 cm (7 3/4 × 20 15/16 in.)
Credit Line: Clarence Buckingham Collection
Reference Number: 1925.3215
IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.: https://api.artic.edu/api/v1/artworks/24515/manifest.json

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The Eastern Journey of the Celebrated Poet Ariwara no Narihira

Currently Off View

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Place

Date Dates are not always precisely known, but the Art Institute strives to present this information as consistently and legibly as possible. Dates may be represented as a range that spans decades, centuries, dynasties, or periods and may include qualifiers such as c. (circa) or BCE.

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Dimensions

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world. Learn more.

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IIIF Manifest The International Image Interoperability Framework (IIIF) represents a set of open standards that enables rich access to digital media from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions around the world.

Learn more.