Calligraphy in cursive script, Chinese-style poems

草書屏風 亀田鵬斎筆 江戸時代 六曲一双 紙本墨書
This work, one of a pair of six-panel screens, is covered with hand-brushed poetry that reads in columns from right to left. The calligrapher and poet Kameda Bosai was a scholar of Confucian studies known for his highly personalized and difficult-to-read cursive script (sosho), sometimes called Bosai's squiggling "earthworm" style. Here his calligraphy rhythmically combines angles and curves, wet and dry strokes, and tension and release; his lines vary from thick to thin. His brush moved to an ever-changing rhythm, now faster and now slower.
At the end of his inscription, the artist notes that the calligraphy was done when he was "totally drunk," which contributes to the difficulty of reading them. The poems, which are by Bosai himself, help reveal his personal views. The first praises a famous historical general named Kusunoki Masashige (1294–1336), who fought and died in support of an effort to overthrow the military government. In later centuries, Masashige was elevated in folk mythology to the position of Supreme Paragon of Imperial Loyalty.