The way in which a narrative is illustrated responds acutely to the format through which it is told. For instance, this handscroll version of The Great Woven Cap permits a more complete telling of the tale, with illustrations spaced evenly across the long roll of paper. By contrast, when the story is told in the smaller book format, key motifs are singled out and depicted at the center of the picture plane. On a pair of folding screens, fidelity to the narrative has been subordinated to visual splendor, no doubt to underscore the magnificence of the occasion for which the screens were commissioned A signature and seal indicate that the text was executed by Asakura Jūken, a relatively unknown calligrapher who is thought to have been a member of the warrior elite. Stylistic analysis of this signed work has allowed scholars to identify his hand in The Tale of Urashima Tarō and The Chronicle of the Great Peace.
