Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)

Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)

Katsushika Hokusai

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This print is from Hokusai's last important print series, left incomplete at his death. One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets is a famous anthology of classical waka poems. On a label at the upper right corner, a poem by Minamoto Muneyuki (d. 939) is inscribed: In a mountain hamlet winter's loneliness grows deeper. Both people and grasses are withered—so runs my thoughts. In contrast to the waka poem, which concentrates on the loneliness of winter in the mountains, Hokusai's hunters, clustered around a big fire in the snow, have a mad animation characteristic of kyōka, the playful verse more popular in the late Edo period than waka.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki Ason, from the series One Hundred Poems Explained by the Nurse (Hyakunin isshu uba ga etoki)

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.