Lovers

Isoda Koryūsai

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The poem in Chinese on this print conceals a light eroticism much as the komusō priest costume with its basket-like hat (seen under the woman's arm) conceals the lovers on their way to the tryst that this print depicts. The study of Chinese classics and poetry was a major part of an elite education in Japan for many centuries. With the new affluence and economic clout of the merchant class at this time, merchant sons (and daughters to a more limited extent) were also taught in academies in Osaka and around the country. Both samurai and merchant scholars wrote poems in Chinese and read old anthologies. Chinese poetry seemed especially suited for encoding political and occasionally, erotic meanings within lyrics innocuous at first glance.

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