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One of the most famous works of ancient Japanese literature is The Pillow Book (Makura no Sōshi), written by Sei Shōnagon (966 – 1017 or 1025) during the Heian Period (794 – 1185). She was a court lady serving the Empress Teishi (977 – 1000) (Empress Sadako), consort of Emperor Ichijō (980 – 1011). In a series of essays, The Pillow Book documented the life, loves, and pastimes of nobles in the Emperor's court, along with advice and opinions on rhetoric, conversation, preaching, and letter writing. There is much poetry, too. One of her waka (poems) is number 62 in Hyakunin Isshu, a famous anthology of 100 poems by 100 poets assembled in the 13th century.

According to Shōnagon, spring is the season of fresh beginnings, and spring's most beautiful feature is the dawn.

It is a time that crowds of people gather to see sakura (cherry) trees in bloom. Uma (plum) trees, too. All of the blossom painting subjects this semester are late winter to spring plants, so their emergence, too, symbolizes the season.

People with seasonal allergies tend to be less thrilled when sakura are in bloom, though sights like this moat at Hirosaki Castle in Aomori Prefecture may compensate for the misery.

Mankai is a word for blossoms in full bloom, but it is most frequently applied to sakura (cherry) blossoms like the ones below.

People listen for the song of the Bush Warbler (Uguisu), a bird common year round in much of Japan, but whose song is a special feature of late spring. Uguisu is sometimes called a nightingale.

Another popular bird is the mejiro (Japanese white-eye).

Spring is a popular time to gather delicacies such as nori ...

... and wakame seaweed.

There are several important holidays in the spring, Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi) on May 5 being the one with the longest roots, extending back approximately 1,400 years.

Kitsushita Hokusai (1760 – 1849)

The print below is believed to have been executed sometime in the early 1830s, around the same time as Hokusai's famous 36-Views of Mt. Fuji was being done. Though not certain, some believe that this may have been a surimono, a privately commissioned print. The poems translate to "The dancing skylarks compare the height of their voices to the tall peak. -- Keika", and "The foothills of Mt. Fuji in the Spring are covered with mist like the pattern of a ceremonial gown. -- Nikyo".

Keisai Eisen (1790 – 1848)

Eisen began his artistic studies in the Kanō school before developing his own style. Most of his art were bijin-ga (pictures of beautiful people), though he did other things, too. The title of the following print is "Toto Shinobazu Benten Haru no Kei" (The spring scene at Benten Shrine in the Shinobazu Pond in Edo). It, too, was printed in the 1830s

Utagawa Hiroshige (1797 – 1858)

Hokusai is famous, among many things, for his series of ukiyo-e prints featuring Mt. Fuji, but he isn't the only artist who was fascinated with Japan's most famous mountain. Hiroshige did his own series of Mt. Fuji prints. The print below, Koganei in Musashi Province, is one of his last paintings, executed the year he died in 1858. Mt. Fuji is not very prominent, but it is there. Can you find it? Most of the cherry tree in the foreground is off the edge of the painting, an approach that has influenced photographers and artists to this day.

Takahashi Shōtei (1871 – 1945)

While still a young man, Shōtei was one of the founders of the Japan Youth Painting Society in 1889. He was later recruited by publisher Shōzaburō Watanabe to contribute to the shin-hanga movement with the objective of restoring traditional subjects and artistic values to Japanese art. His Haru no yoi (Spring night) was painted in 1910.

Kawai Gyokudō (1873 – 1957)

Gyokudō (real name Kawai Yoshisaburō) studied with master painters including the Kanō school before developing his own style that incorporated elements of Western art. His specialty was landscapes. His two-part byōbu below, Parting Spring, completed in 1916, depicts leisure boats drifting down Nagatoro Gorge in Saitama Prefecture north of Tōkyō. Cherry blossoms line the banks. Both byōbu are shown below with the right-side first, followed by the left.