The Hundred Poets of the Inkstand,

Part I

(Sumi-ire hyaku-nin isshu, 住入百人一首)

Publishers: Fujioka-ya Keijirô and Ichigaya Sa-ichi

c. 1843

Hyaku-nin isshu is an anthology of 100 poems by 100 different poets compiled by the thirteenth-century critic and poet Fujiwara no Sadaie (also known as Teika). The poems are all five-line poems of 31 syllables arranged as 5, 7, 5, 7 and 7. This form was known as waka and is now known as tanka. The 100 poets are in approximately chronological order from the seventh through the thirteenth centuries. Some of the prints portray the poets, and some show scenes associated with their lives or poetry. The poem and some descriptive text appear on each print. The poems were translated by Clay MacCauley in his book Single Songs of a Hundred Poets (1917, Kelly and Walsh, Yokohama). The prints are each about 7 by 5 inches (18 by 13 centimeters), a size known as koban. These images were originally printed four to an ôban sized sheet. The first 20 designs are signed by Kuniyoshi and remaining 80 are signed by Kunisada (Toyokuni III). All the prints signed by Kuniyoshi also bear the single seal of the censor Hama Yahei. I am grateful to Robert Pryor for his contributions to this series.

Number: 1

Poet: Emperor Tenchi Tennô (天智天皇)

Scene: Emperor Tenchi Tennô on a palace balcony overlooking a misty landscape

Robinson: S27.1

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 2

Poet: Empress Jitô Tennô (持統天皇)

Scene: Empress Jitô Tennô and a maid looking back at a garden pavilion

Robinson: S27.2

NOTE: The seal of the publisher Fujioka-ya Keijirô is rendered in three different forms in this series:

Another state

Number: 3

Poet: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro (柿本人麿)

Scene: Poet Kakinomoto no Hitomaro at his writing desk, chin in hand, watching a pheasant in a tree

Robinson: S27.3

Number: 4

Poet: Yamabe no Akahito (山辺の赤人)

Scene: Poet Yamabe no Akahito on the rocky sea-shore with Mount Fuji in the background

Robinson: S27.4

Another state published by Ichigaya Sa-ichi (市谷佐市)

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 5

Poet: Sarumaru Dayû (猿丸大夫)

Scene: Poet Sarumaru Dayû standing and viewing a mountain with maple trees in their autumn colors

Robinson: S27.5 (listed as “not seen”)

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state published by Ichigaya Sa-ichi (市谷佐市)

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 6

Poet: Chûnagon Yakamochi (中納言家持), who is also known as Otomo no Yakamochi

Scene: Poet Chûnagon Yakamochi on a veranda contemplating a building through the mist

Robinson: S27.6

Number: 7

Poet: Abe no Nakamaro (安倍仲麿)

Scene: Poet Abe no Nakamaro seated on the foreign shore with two Chinese men, one of whom points across the sea towards Japan

Robinson: S27.7

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state published by Ichigaya Sa-ichi (市谷佐市)

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 8

Poet: The monk Kisen Hôshi (喜撰法師)

Scene: Two girls seated picking tealeaves while one of them rebukes a wandering child

Robinson: S27.8

Number: 9

Poet: Ono no Komachi (小野小町)

Scene: Poetess Ono no Komachi seated on a palace veranda

Robinson: S27.9

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 10

Poet: Semimaru (蝉丸)

Scene: The blind poet Semimaru seated at the window of his hut listening to the sounds of passing travelers on the road

Robinson: S27.10

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state lacking the publisher’s seal below Kuniyoshi’s signature

Number: 11

Poet: Sangi Takamura (参議篁) also known as Ono no Takamura

Scene: Stern view of a junk

Robinson: S27.11 (listed as “not seen”)

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state without a publisher’s seal

Number: 12

Poet: Sôjô Henjô (The Monk Henjô, 僧正遍昭)

Scene: Sôjô Henjô looking up at winged figures

Robinson: S27.12 (listed as “not seen”)

I am grateful to Stuart Varnam-Atkin for this image.

Another state lacking the publisher’s seal in the left lower corner next to the censor’s seal

“Robinson” refers to listing in Kuniyoshi: The Warrior-Prints by Basil William Robinson (Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 1982) and its privately published supplement.

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