Japanese Color Woodblock Print
Asagao (chapter 20)
from the album
Illustrations for Genji monogatari
in Fifty-Four Wood-Cut Prints
by Ebina Masao, 1953 or after
IHL Cat. #2549
click on image to enlarge
About This Print
In this scene from chapter 20, Asagao, it is winter in Genji’s thirty-second year and girls are playing in the snow-covered garden of Nijō Palace.
"Murasaki-no-Uye is jealous over Genji’s love for Asagao, a Superintendent Sister of Kamo Shrine, who has vowed to remain a maiden, and has been acting with hostility towards Genji.
"One moonlit night, when the snow lay deep on the ground, Prince Genji ordered little girls to build a snow hill in front of his chamber to remind him of when Fujitsubo, his father’s wife, who he had an affair with (bringing her notoriety), would play in her snow-covered garden by ordering snow hills to be built there."[1]
[1] Genji gojūshijō 源氏五十四帖, published by Shin Kōbe Shinbunsha, 1974.
Brief Summary of The Tale of Genji
Genji monogatari or The Tale of Genji was composed by Murasaki Shikibu, [noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting to the empress] around the first decade of the eleventh century. It is divided into two major sections: chapters [or episodes] 1 to 41, which describe the story of Genji [the "Shining Prince," son of the emperor] and the women in his life, and chapters 42 to 54, which deal with Genji's progeny. The first section is subdivided into chapters 1 to 33, narrating the rise, fall, and rise again of the young Genji, and chapters 34 to 41, which portray him becoming increasingly introspective and contemplative.[1]
In the words of curator and art historian Alan Priest, "As an authoress Lady Murasaki is sensitive and perceptive. She writes a good story, largely concerned with young love and its troubles, which she deals with with sympathy and delicacy. She pays great attention to the dress of both sexes and describes court functions and progresses in great detail. She includes letters and poems and glimpses of nature."[2]
[1] Summary of Chapter 11, Genji monogatari and its Reception by Satoko Naito appearing in The Cambridge History of Japanese Literature, Cambridge University Press, 2016 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/cambridge-history-of-japanese-literature/genji-monogatariand-its-reception/E6576578CEB18390851CAC13B50E18EC
[2] The Tale of Genji by Alan Priest appearing in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, Summer, 1956, New Series, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Summer, 1956), The Metropolitan Museum of Art, p. 1. Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/3257704 [accessed 7-30-24]
About The Album "Illustrations for Genji monogatari in Fifty-Four Wood-Cut Prints"
Originally issued in 1953 in a limited edition of 200 copies by the Tokyo-based publisher Yamada Shoin 山田書院, owned by Yamada Yonekichi 山田米吉, Illustrations for Genji monogatari in Fifty-Four Wood-Cut Prints 木版画源氏五十四帖 was reissued several times by the publisher, using the original woodblocks. Dr. Ross Walker on his Ohmi Gallery website notes that "a second edition was published in the 1980s but from recarved blocks and in a much larger format (large-oban size)."1 The Artelino website makes mention of a "privately commissioned" edition but provides no additional information. WorldCat lists two additional printings in 1958 and 1969 by the Ōsaka newspaper publisher Shin Kansai Shinbunsha 新関西新聞社, the 1969 edition described as "Fifty-four wood-cut prints in 27 folders, each print preceded by an attached clear with explanatory text and summary of the story in English and Japanese." In September 1957, an edition was released by Naigai Taimususha 内外タイムス社. The marketing relationship between Yamada Shoin, active until 1978, and these other publishers is unknown.2
The production of the woodblock prints was a tour de force. As described by the publisher Yamada Yonekichi, up to one hundred blocks were used for an individual print in order to "capture the complex and delicate coloring of the Yamato-e style paintings on which these prints are based."3 In addition, deluxe woodblock printing techniques such as the use of metallic gold and silver inks were employed.
1 Website of Dr. Ross Walker's Ohmi Gallery https://www.ohmigallery.com/DB/Artists/Sales/Ebina_Masao.asp [accessed 3/24/2021]
2 The last active date for the publisher is derived from the entries in WorldCat a global catalog of library materials.
3 From the publisher's booklet accompanying the original 1953 release.
Copied from the 1953 Yamada Shoin first edition
Various Editions
The original Yamada Shoin 1953 release.
Each print has a translucent cover sheet which summarizes
the scene being portrayed and its chapter
Yamada Shoin release. Publishing date unknown.
1957 release by Naigai Taimususha
1958 release by Shin Kansai Shinbunsha
August 1964 release by Shin Kansai Shinbunsha
Copied from the 1953 Yamada Shoin first edition
For collectors, it is difficult to know what edition (original or reissue using the original woodblocks) an individual print is from if it has been separated from its album, as is the case with this collection's prints. As the same print can be found with different color schemes, only a comparison with an intact complete edition of the album with colophon would allow more complete identification.
In January 1974, a machine printed version of the entire album (shown below), titled Genji gojūshijō 源氏五十四帖, was issued by two Kobe-based publishers, Ōe Kenzō 大江賢三 (associated with the publisher Shin Kōbe Shinbunsha 新神戶新聞社 ) and Ochiai Miyoji 落合 巳代治 (associated with the publisher Gakunan Shimin Shinbunsha 岳南市民新聞社). The printer for this album was Nissha Printing Company 日本写真印刷株式会社, still in operation today.
Print Details
