Tale of the Nun Akizuki

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This medieval tale relates the story of Aigyō, daughter of a palace nobleman, who, from the age of seven, is raised by an evil stepmother. When Aigyō falls in love with a captain from the palace, the stepmother tries to drown her stepdaughter so that her real daughter can get engaged to the captain. Before her stepmother succeeds, Aigyō’s deceased mother magically appears as a large turtle to save her daughter from drowning. Afterwards, during a pilgrimage to the Kumano Shrines, Aigyō befriends a nun from Kyushu named Akizuki (Autumn Moon), as in the title of the story. When Nun Akizuki meets the captain at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, she arranges for Aigyō to be reunited with her former love. They marry, and the captain is eventually promoted to imperial regent, and Aigyō compassionately looks after both her stepmother and Nun Akizuki. Didactic stories such as this, known as “companion tales” (otogizōshi), were often reproduced in deluxe illustrated editions, as seen here.

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