Departure from Kashima
1364
unspecified
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art
Departure from Kashima is a 1364 unspecified by Unknown, depicting Nanbokucho Period, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.
You see a god riding a white deer through a dark forest. Five other gods float inside a golden circle held by tree branches. White paper strips and purple wisteria flowers trail behind them. This painting shows a real moment from a 700-year-old story. The god Takemikazuchi leaves his shrine in Kashima to move to Nara. The golden circle and paper strips are signs of purity used in Shinto rituals. The wisteria hints at the powerful Fujiwara family who ruled Japan at the time. Look up more art from the subject: japan, nanbokuchō period (1336–92).
The kami Takemikazuchi from Kashima (in present-day Ibaraki Prefecture) departs on a white deer for Mount Mikasa in Nara, where he takes up residence. The five Kasuga kami are presented within a golden circle supported by the branches of a sakaki tree, from which trail five white paper streamers—indicating the purity and sacredness of the five shrine halls of the complex—as well as blossoming wisteria vines, a symbol of the Fujiwara family. The two figures walking along near the stag’s back legs are Nakatomi no Tokifū and his younger brother Hidetsura, who have followed Takemikazuchi and…
Read the full account in the museum source.
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