Omu, Parrot

A parrot (omu) rendered as a standalone bird subject — the tropical bird depicted with the vivid coloring and intelligent bearing that made it a popular subject in Japanese decorative arts from the Momoyama period onward. The parrot was associated with exoticism and with the imported natural world, its non-native status paradoxically making it a familiar presence in Japanese artistic tradition through centuries of depiction. Hodo's kachō-ga treatment applies the technical refinement of the shin-hanga printing process to this enduring decorative subject.