\"Kakinomoto no Hitomaro\

Catalog note / 解説

Hokusai interprets a poem by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (ca. 660-739), and depicts fishermen laboriously pulling their long net upstream on a steep mountain. The poem in the cartouche reads: Ashibiki no Ah! the dragging trail Yamadori no o no on the mountain pheasant's tail shidario no that droops like a down-curved branch Naga nagashiki yo wo through this long, long, dragging night. hitori ka mo nen Must I keep to my couch alone? Volumes of smoke rise from a fire of sticks, changing color from red to white. In the house in the middle ground, a man leans against the windowsill, watching the fishermen work throughout the long night. It is difficult to see the connection between the content of th…