Unlined Summer Kimono (Hito-e) with Landscape and Poem

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This light, unlined robe (hito-e) is designed for summer. On a blue background, flowers and plants of the four seasons appear in landscape settings. Spring flowers are represented along the hem; above them we see wisteria and other summer plants; toward the middle appear autumnal maple leaves; and around the neckline and on the sleeves are winter pine-sapling motifs. The characters of a felicitous poem celebrating longevity and happiness make their way from the front to the back of the robe: [front] Toshi o iwau yorozuyo no kame Celebrating old age, turtles live for ten thousand years, [back] tsuru no ko wa chiyo o kotobuku hana nare ya and the offspring of cranes for a thousand years— flourishing in their long lives. —Trans. Monika Bincsik

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