Art Institute of Chicago

Memorial Surimono

Shibata Zeshin

Date

2nd month, 1883

Medium

Color woodblock print; surimono

Culture

Japan

Department

Arts of Asia

Institution

Art Institute of Chicago

This memorial print was created to commemorate the seven-year anniversary of Sasaki Chikuju, a little-known haiku poet from Osaka. Memorial prints such as this became common in the mid- to late 19th century because they served as a visually pleasing way for poets, public figures, and those with cultural interests to remember a departed friend or teacher. These prints became an extension of the memorial service, a way for distant people to honor the deceased in words; here 202 people wrote commemorative poems. Such prints were also given to the participants at the memorial service. The host of the print (and probably also the memorial service) was Sasaki Ippu, a son of the departed Chikuju. Another person, who called himself Chikufu Koji and was possibly a teacher of both father and son, wrote the title of the inscriptions at the upper right.

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