Tenji Tenno

Welcome to the 'Hyaku-nin Isshu Hanga Series', the collection of woodblock prints designed in 1775 by Katsukawa Shunsho, and now being re-born in the Heisei era.

At the time I was carving this print, I had no plan in mind to make a full series of 100. I had simply chosen it when I was looking for an interesting design to carve as part of my training in woodblock printmaking. It was only when I held the first printed copies in my hand, that I realized that Shunsho's designs for his book were really something very special, and the idea of making more of them seemed irresistible. I then started the carving of a second one, and soon grew into the feeling that I should try for a complete set.

The poem is one of the most famous in the entire set of one hundred:

Very few of the prints in the series fill the page as much as this one does. As you will see later, most of them are posed in empty space with no backgrounds, but Shunsho made sure that the illustrations of the eight emperors in the set received a more 'royal' treatment, with the poets posed on tatami mats with screens, and stylized 'cloud' shapes hovering above.

This print is made with seven printing impressions: one red, two yellows, and black used four times. I used an old carver's trick for the screen, and did the horizontal and vertical lines on different blocks. This not only makes it much less painful to carve, but allows different shades of black to be used when printing, giving a more interesting effect. Seven colours is about average for the prints in this series. Some (usually the priests) use fewer colours, and some (usually the women) use quite a few more.

I hope you enjoy this print. Coming up next month - the famous poetess 'Ono no Komachi'.

Spring 1989

Translation of poem - Tom Galt 1982 Princeton University Press