Kanke (Sugawara no Michizane)

Catalog note / 解説

Hokusai depicts the occasion of Kan Ke, pen name of Sugawara no Michizane (844-903), composing a poem as an offering to the gods. Many features of the poem appear in the print. An emperor's large three-wheeled ox cart, the ox and the trappings are covered with cloth that is elaborately broacaded (nishiki) with a pattern of maple leaves. The stone lantern signifies this location as that of a temple where red maple leaves glide down over relaxing guards. Two courtiers, one holding a banner may be seen speaking to the retired sovereign who remains in the cart. Upon viewing the gorgeous maple leaves, this poet feels rather inadequate about the offering he’d planned to make at the Shintö shrine…