Explore “Ivy” in the Series Cloud Comparison of Genji

The tragic life of the 9th-century poet and courtier Sugawara no Michizane was the plot of one of Japan's most famous theatrical dramas, Sugawara denju tenarai kagami (Sugawara and the Secrets of Calligraphy).

In kabuki theatre, this historical figure is called Kan Shōjō, as he is identified in the print, wearing a luxurious silk robe adorned with plum blossoms and a large fan. 

The young woman behind him, Princess Kariya, is his adopted daughter, whose marriage to an imperial prince is the beginning of his fall from grace and his unjust exile and death, a plot summarised in the Hanagasa Gaishi print.

This episode is compared in the print to the chapter of Genji Monogatari entitled ‘The Ivy’, in which Prince Niou marries Roku no Kimi, Genji's granddaughter. This alliance strengthened the power of Genji's family at court.

The picture is completed by a nostalgic poem from the classic novel that recalls the good times of the past.

Under the Ivy
the elusive traveller
Finds breath
in the pleasant memories
of nights gone by.