Two Immortal Poets

Fragments of very old handscrolls, particularly those with poetic sentiments expressed by aristocrats from Japan’s classical past, became popular for display in tea ceremonies in the 1500s. Here, two famous poets of the 700s are portrayed as though engaged in a poetry competition. Dressed in black, on the right, is Ōtomo Yakamochi, a military general and one of the compilers of Japan’s first great poetry anthology, the Man’yōshū. Yamabe Akahito, on the left, was a courtier who composed much of his poetry while traveling the countryside with Emperor Shōmu. Appearing with these imagined portraits are verses by each poet on the theme of spring.

Even though it is clear on distant Mount Makimuku, snow still falls on the trees.

—Yakamochi

As the tide rises at Wakanoura, crying cranes descend into the new reeds.

—Akahito