The First Day of Spring (Risshun), from the series Fashionable Poetic Immortals of the Four Seasons (Fūzoku shiki Kasen)
Suzuki Harunobu Japanese
Not on view
A young man with a sword tucked into his sash looks up at a young woman in the doorway as he gestures toward a bitter-orange (daidai) tree in the garden. The artist puns on a classical poem by Fujiwara no Shunzei (1114–1204) that refers to opening the gates of the heavens (ama no to) by showing a young woman opening rain shutters (amado). The poem reads:
Ama no to no
akuru keshiki mo ,
shizuka nite
kumoi yori koso
haru wa tachikere
As the gates of
heavens open, quietly
a splendid scene appears
as spring arrives from
the palace of the clouds.
—Trans. John T. Carpenter
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