Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)

Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)

Fujiwara no Norinaga

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

By the 1100s, many courtiers and court ladies of the palace were inscribing kana calligraphy with a firmer brush compared to previous generations. Traditionally, the inscription of these poems was attributed to the courtier Asukai Masatsune (1170–1221), but modern scholarship has securely identified it as by Norinaga, the brother of Masatsune’s grandfather, helping to establish a more solid framework of how kana writing styles evolved.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)Three poems from the Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Kokin wakashū), known as the “Imaki Fragment” (Imaki-gire)

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.