Japanese Print "The View of the Aji River on Tenpözan: Taking shelter from the Rain" by Yashima Gakutei
Artist:Yashima Gakutei
Title:The View of the Aji River on Tenpözan: Taking shelter from the Rain
Date:1834
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Source:Honolulu Museum of Art
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Description:
This print was conserved with the support of the Robert F. Lange Foundation. Here we see revelers trying to make their way through small square passageways that have been cut into large pillars. Legend has it that if one is able to wriggle through such a hole, which is supposed to be the size of the nostril of the Great Buddha (Birushana), she or he can ascend to the brain (i.e., wisdom) of the Buddha. Another version of the legend says that one will be granted long life for climbing through the pillar. The figures featured in this print are too well-to-do to be Yaji or Kita (who could never afford the company of courtesans), but they are enjoying the same amusements that the Adventures Down the Tökaidö protagonists enjoyed in the Hall of the Great Buddha at Hökö Temple in Kyoto. Kita makes it through the pillar, while Yaji creates an embarrassing yet hilarious scene when he gets stuck: KITA: Hey, I have a good idea! Let's buy a cup of vinegar and have you drink it! YAJI: What good will drinking vinegar do? KITA: I heard drinking vinegar makes you lose weight. PILGRIM 1: Ha ha ha! Nah, if you do that you won't make it in time, so how about knocking him out by hitting him on the head with a hammer! KITA: That sounds logical, but we'd be putting his life at risk. PILGRIM 2: Well then, how about cutting his leg and rubbing hot pepper in it? Then he'd get himself out of there!
