1836
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Poem by Emperor Sanjo, from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by an Old Nurse is a 1836 by Katsushika Hokusai, a Romanticism work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a priest holding a tall staff with fluttering white paper strips, while a group of people bow under a bright moon. This print is from a series where an old nurse explains famous poems. The poem here is by Emperor Sanjo, who ruled Japan over 800 years ago. Hokusai shows the moment as if it’s happening now—simple lines, no extra details, just the quiet respect of the scene. To see more prints like this, look up *Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)*.
A priest raises a gohei , a ritual implement with zig-zag strips of white paper attached to a staff, while the surrounding figures reverentially bow in a moonlit ceremony honoring Emperor Sanjo (976–1017, reigned 1012–16).
This series by Hokusai was originally meant to have 100 prints, but only 27 were completed.
Read the full account in the museum source.
Katsushika Hokusai spent his life in Edo, now Tokyo, where he drew and carved prints for a living.
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