The "Takekurabe Soshi" Emaki

Emaki scrolls are the illustrated scroll-bound books of ancient Japan. They follow several forms, one of which is uta awase, a scroll that documents a real or imagined poetry contest. The title "Takekurabe Soshi" translates roughly to "Poets Compare the Seasons", and this scroll documents a competition between poets that compares the spring and autumn seasons. According to the Tokyo National Museum, this scroll dates to the 15th century and the Muromachi period, and the competition was instigated after a disagreement between an emperor and his crown prince. Each of the 21 "matches" of the competition consists of two poets composing on topics like "moonlit night" and "snowy morning". Presumably, the better poem of each pair would "win" a point for the season it describes.

The images below are presented linearly, in the manner of a scroll that has been laid out for display. Thus, the image here at the left margin is the last page. Scroll all the way to the right to start at the begining.

I was unfamiliar with this scroll until I encountered it on display in the Tokyo National Museum. It is not documented, described, or translated in any of the books on emaki I have seen.

Although the scroll itself is old enough to be in the public domain, since the creation of these derivative images entailed a considerable amount of work on my part, I must claim copyright to them and this page © 2016 Elliott C. Evans and reserve all rights. I do, however, have a tradition of granting permission for use to nearly anybody who bothers to ask for it, so please send me some email.