Drawing the First Water of the New Year

Suzuki Harunobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Symbols of spring abound in this poem. A young couple draws the “first water of the New Year” (wakamizu) in decorated buckets; pine saplings sit by the doorway, and plum blossoms burst into bloom. The scene also calls to mind an episode from the tenth-century Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari) known as the “Well curb,” in which young lovers recall measuring their heights by the well as children. It reads Haru o hete kyō tatematsuru wakamizu ni chitose no kage ya matsu ukamuramu . As spring arrives, today, we offer to the gods the year’s first drawn water attached with pine shoots as from time immemorial —Trans. John T. Carpenter

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.

Metropolitan Museum of Art