Jito Tenno

So, here we go on the second half of the journey ... 'welcome back' to those of you who have been travelling with me for a while, and 'hajimemashite', to those collectors new this year. At the recent annual exhibition, one of the attendees expressed the opinion that making the second 50 prints should be like the 'return half' of my trip - I've been travelling 'out' for 50 prints, and now it's time to turn around and 'head home'. This was a nice idea, but I'd rather not look at it that way. Instead, I'd like to think of the next 50 as a continuation of the trip. Rather than going back over the same ground again, and seeing the same places, I want to feel like I am heading out into new territory. There are a lot of things I don't know about printmaking yet ... Turn around and go back home? No way!

I started the first half with Tenji Tenno (poet #1 in the Hyaku-nin Isshu), and am starting the second half with his daughter Jito Tenno (#2). Shunsho presented them in the same style, posed behind a full-length screen, the only two poets he drew this way. The 'full sheet' picture makes an effective way to start off the year's set. It's too bad that the poem doesn't exactly make a good match for a print I made in February!

There are eight emperors represented in the Hyaku-nin Isshu (I sure wish there had been ten!), of whom only one is female. But perhaps I shouldn't use that word 'only'. If I understand correctly, since the Meiji era it has not been permitted for a woman to hold this position in Japan, and somehow this seems a bit 'topsy-turvy' to me - women in modern times being restricted from something they were free to do in times past. There were a number of noted female emperors in historical Japan, including the most famous of all, Himiko. (My daughter's name 'Himi', is similar to this august lady's name, and when she behaves especially elegantly, we call her 'Himiko-sama')

As a foreigner, perhaps I should keep these thoughts to myself, but I can't help thinking about the upcoming generations of the royal family in current Japan. The Crown Prince was recently married, and presumably may become a father sometime soon. If he and Masako-san have a daughter, will it start a debate in Japan on this topic? Must females be forever barred from this position? (I suppose that if they have a son, the question won't come up.) I know it's technically 'none of my business', but I feel that a lot of Japanese traditions are my traditions too, and I must confess to a bit of an 'itazura' feeling here. I'd like to see such a debate take place, so I'm kind of hoping for a girl ... (Besides, what else could I say - I'm plenty happy to have two of them ...!)

Thank you for being with me this year, and I'm looking forward to a good 12 months of work and study. Coming up next month, the famous Murasaki Shikibu.

February 1994

Translation - Tom Galt, 1982