The wonder of rain in traditional Japanese art
Rain has a special significance for the Japanese, so much so that they have at least 50 words for it. Rain also features in many Japanese woodblock prints and paintings. Such works not only celebrate the beauty of rain. They reflect the way the Japanese regard nature and everything in the universe.
James T. Ulak, an American curator of Japanese art, notes in a Britannica article:
Another pervasive characteristic of Japanese art is an understanding of the natural world as a source of spiritual insight and an instructive mirror of human emotion. An indigenous religious sensibility that long preceded Buddhism perceived that a spiritual realm was manifest in nature… The cycle of the seasons was deeply instructive and revealed, for example, that immutability and transcendent perfection were not natural norms. Everything was understood as subject to a cycle of birth, fruition, death, and decay.
In the twilight rain
these brilliant-hued hibiscus . . .
A lovely sunset
Matsuo Basho
The Onmaya riverbank in the Eastern capital, 1832–1836
Colour woodcut
Utagawa Kuniyoshi (Japanese, 1798–1861)
Courtesy of Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam
Fishing Boat in Rain, early 19th century
One from a pair of hanging scrolls; ink and light color on silk
Okamoto Toyohiko (Japanese, 1773–1845)
Courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston
Two Gallinules and Lotus Leaves in Shallow Water in the Rain, 20th century
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Soseki (Japanese, active 20th century)
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Courtesy of Harvard Art Museums
Cotton Rose Mallows in the Rain, c. 1891–92
Album leaf; ink and color on silk
Okada Baison (Japanese, 1864–1913)
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Tea-houses on the Bank of the Tadasu River in a Shower, Edo period (1615–1868)
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Night Rain at Karasaki (Karasaki no yau), from the series Eight Views of Lake Biwa (?mi hakkei no uchi), c. 1834
Woodblock print; ink and colour on paper
Utagawa Hiroshige (Japanese, 1797–1858)
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
Courtesy of Harvard Art Museums
Night Rain at Makura Bridge (Makurabashi yau), from the series “Eight Views of the Sumida River (Sumidagawa hakkei)”, 1861
Colour woodblock print
Utagawa Hiroshige II (Shigenobu) (Japanese, 1826–1869)
Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Evening After Rain, 1926
Colour woodblock print
Hiroshi Yoshida (Japanese, 1876–1950)
Courtesy of Egenolf Gallery
~ Barista Uno
