Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

Among Japan’s greatest poets, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s (c. 660–724) portrait was often displayed at poetry competitions. Here, he gazes up at a falling cherry blossom, his writing box before him, brush and paper in his hands. A short biography and one of his poems are inked on painted rectangles meant to look like decorated papers. The first part of the poem has been mostly lost, but from what remains, it is possible to recognize it as

Dimly, dimly

in the morning mist that lies over Akashi Bay,

my longings follow with the ship

that vanishes behind the distant isle.

—Translated by Robert H. Bower and Earl Roy Miner