Chünagon Yakamochi (Ötomo no Yakamochi)

Catalog note / 解説

The print depicts a poet Otomo no Yakamochi’s poem “Magpie Bridge.” The poem refers to an old Chinese myth about a herdsman in love with a weaver maiden. As a result of not paying attention to his herd, the herdsman’s cattle ate all the flowers in the heavanly fields. The angry gods thus separated the two lovers with the Milky Way allowing them to meet only once a year by crossing a bridge created by the wings of magpies. The two lovers must part by dawn. Hokusai uses allusions to the dawn and to Chinese origins of the subject. The boat and the men are Chinese. The men point to three magpies that fly above the boat. The peninsula in the center appears suspended in midair as if it is a bridg…