Young Man and Woman Caught in the Rain while Enjoying Cherry Blossoms (Sakura-gari)

Suzuki Harunobu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Caught in a sudden downpour, a young woman covers her head with the long sleeve of her kimono and her male companion hastens to open an umbrella. The cloth spread on the ground near a cherry tree in full bloom indicates that they were hoping to enjoy an afternoon of merriment beneath the blossoms. The anonymous poem adds a dimension of sexual innuendo, because the word for “to be drenched” (nuru) also connotes sexual intercourse. It reads: Sakura-gari ame wa furikinu onajiku wa nuru to mo hana no kage ni kakuren. While searching for cherry blossoms, it starts to rain, yet even if we get drenched, we will still be in the shade of these flowering trees. —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