Hagoromo

Hagoromo — the celestial robe of the tennyo (heavenly maiden) — is the subject of this 1969 print by Karhu, drawn from one of Japan's most beloved Noh plays and folk tales. The tennyo who loses her feathered robe and cannot return to heaven is a figure of longing and displacement — an outsider caught between two worlds — and Karhu's engagement with the story may carry biographical resonance for an American artist who had made Japan his home. The print's composition reflects his early interest in classical Japanese literary and theatrical subjects.