Ebina Masao

Ebina Masao (海老名正夫) was a Japanese artist active during the twentieth century whose most significant body of work consists of a series of woodblock prints illustrating chapters of "The Tale of Genji" (Genji Monogatari), the eleventh-century novel by Murasaki Shikibu that is widely considered the foundational work of Japanese literature. Ebina's Genji prints---with titles referencing individual chapters such as "Kiritsubo," "Sakaki," "Leaves of Wisteria" (Fuji no Uraba), "Young Fresh Greens" (Wakana), "The Flute," "A Singing Insect," "Yugiri," "The Imperial Visit," "Plum Branch," "Prayer Offering," and "Hashi-hime (The Bride Maiden)"---represent a sustained engagement with the novel's fifty-four chapters through the medium of the woodblock print.