Sekiya, E-awase, and Matsukaze, from the series "The Tale of Genji (Genji monogatari)"

From a circa 1819-20 shikishiban surimono series treating Murasaki Shikibu's Tale of Genji, this print combines references to three chapters—Sekiya (The Gatehouse), E-awase (The Picture Contest), and Matsukaze (The Wind in the Pines). Genji surimono series were among the most ambitious mitate-e projects of the late Bunka and Bunsei eras, requiring designers to compress complex narrative episodes into single shikishiban-format compositions and to allude to canonical poetry without illustrating it literally. Shinsai's contribution displays both the literary sophistication expected of a major surimono designer and the technical accomplishment expected of a Hokusai-school master, with metallic accents and embossing that the digital image can only partially convey. The Art Institute of Chicago holds the impression in its surimono collection.