Yoshitoshi 芳年: Fujiwara no Kinto carries Plum Blossoms on his Fan 藤原公任

Artist: Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) 芳年Title: Fujiwara no Kinto carries Plum Blossoms on his Fan 藤原公任Series: One Hundred Aspects of the Moon 月百姿Date: 1887 Fujiwara no Kinto was a Heian court poet and musician; a man of culture. He compiled a number of poem anthologies as well as drawing up the famous list of Thirty-six Poets, which created a lasting cultural mark on Japanese art. He was a formal man, and even here when he is alone in the moonlight, he carries himself with the stiff elegance or a courtier. He has picked a branch of plum blossoms, the first of the flowers to bloom early in the spring, and carries them on his fan with respect back to his quarters. Many a poem has been written about the beauty of plum blossoms and snow, and how they are most beautiful when viewed beneath the light of the moon. Kinto’s black robe has an intricate black-on black pattern that was created with shomenzuri, “front printing” a technique that utilized an extra patterned block, which was placed