The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of December 20, 2025

Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

early 1300s

Japan, Kamakura period

(1185–1333)
hanging scroll; ink and color on silk
Painting: 107.6 x 39 cm (42 3/8 x 15 3/8 in.); Mounted: 174.4 x 55 cm (68 11/16 x 21 5/8 in.)
Gift of Herbert F. Leisy in memory of his wife, Helen Stamp Leisy 1977.203
Location: Not on view

Did You Know?

The landscapes at the top and bottom of the painting depict Akashi Bay, with its famous pines along the shore, and a lone figure in a boat.

Description

Among Japan’s greatest poets, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s (c. 660–724) portrait was often displayed at poetry competitions. Here, he gazes up at a falling cherry blossom, his writing box before him, brush and paper in his hands. A short biography and one of his poems are inked on painted rectangles meant to look like decorated papers. The first part of the poem has been mostly lost, but from what remains, it is possible to recognize it as

Dimly, dimly
in the morning mist that lies over Akashi Bay,
my longings follow with the ship
that vanishes behind the distant isle.

—Translated by Robert H. Bower and Earl Roy Miner
  • ?–1977
    Mr. Herbert F. [1900–1977] and Mrs. Helen Stamp Leisy [1906–1975], Cleveland, OH, given to the Cleveland Museum of Art
    1977–
    The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Tōyō kaiga no seika: tokubetsuten: Kurīvurando Bijutsukan no korekushon kara [東洋絵画の精華: 特别展: クリーヴラント美術館のコレクションから= Highlights of Asian painting from the Cleveland Museum of Art]. Nara, Japan: Nara National Museum, 1998. Reproduced: p. 92, no. 59
    Levine, Gregory P. A., Andrew Mark Watsky, Gennifer S. Weisenfeld, and Yoshiaki Shimizu. Crossing the Sea: Essays on East Asian Art in Honor of Professor Yoshiaki Shimizu. Princeton, NJ: P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art, Dept. of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University in association with Princeton University Press, 2012. Reproduced: fig. 4, pp. 142–143
  • Practice and Play in Japanese Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 20-November 30, 2025).
    Highlights of Asian Paintings from The Cleveland Museum of Art. Nara National Museum (organizer) (February 21-March 29, 1998); Suntory Museum of Art (April 28-June 21, 1998).
    Portraiture: The Image of the Individual. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 22, 1983-January 22, 1984).
  • {{cite web|title=Kakinomoto no Hitomaro|url=false|author=|year=early 1300s|access-date=20 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1977.203