Tenji Tenno (The Emperor Tenji), first poet in the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the Nurse

Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760-1849; Publisher: Hibino Yohachi; Japanese, unknown)

c. 1835/36

Medium: Color woodblock print; yoko oban
Classification: Print
Dimensions: 26.2 × 37.7 cm (10 3/8 × 14 7/8 in.)
Culture: Japan
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
Credit line: Clarence Buckingham Collection
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Teens profiles and older: its subject is for older viewers (war, death, the Passion, drink or the like). How works are placed

About this work

Emperor Tenji (628–681) reigned from 668 to 671, during which he established Japan’s first code of civil law. This scene is based on the story that while the emperor was traveling in the countryside, a sudden shower forced him to take shelter in a flimsy, temporary hut in a rice field. His poem expresses his sympathy for his subjects who must work and endure every day under such conditions.

Coarse the rush-mat roof

Sheltering the harvest hut

Of the autumn rice field—

And my sleeves are growing wet

With the moisture dripping through.

(Translated by Clay MacCauley)