Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) | Old View of the Eight-part Bridge at Yatsuhashi in Mikawa Province (Mikawa no Yatsuhashi no kozu) | Edo period, 19th century

The Eight-Plank Bridge (Yatsuhashi) of Mikawa Province (modern day Aichi Prefecture). The semi-historical structure that zigzagged over a marsh of water irises carried deep literary associations through its mention in the Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari). The courtier poet Ariwara no Narihira (825-880) and his retinue dismounted beside the marsh on their eastbound journey. Struck by the beauty of the irises in bloom, one of the party suggested that each compose a poem on the theme of travel, with the opening syllable of each line spelling out the Japanese word for iris: kakitsubata. Narihira composed the following verse:

In these familiar lovely robes I’m

Reminded of the beloved wife

I have left behind, stretching far –

Sadness, the hem of journeys.¹

Karakoromo

kitsutsu narenishi

tsuma shi areba

harubaru kinuru

tabi o shi zo omou

Here, travellers admire the myriad iris blooms beneath the plank-constructed bridge, while a tall pine coils around a stone stele marking the historic site.

A similar impression of the same print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, accession number 21.10187, go to:

https://collections.mfa.org/objects/237806

1. Translated in Peter MacMillan, The Tales of Ise (London, 2016), p. 13.