The Night Visit, from the series "Story of the Cormorant"
- Series:
- Story of the Cormorant
- Date:
- About 1938
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Edition:
- Self-printed
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
"The Night Visit" from the series "Story of the Cormorant" (About 1938) translates the night-visit motif into the narrative world of the cormorant — a bird whose nocturnal diving and its use in traditional cormorant fishing (ukai) gave it a distinctive identity in Japanese culture. The cormorant's night work — diving into dark water to bring up fish, guided by the fisherman's fire — creates a natural parallel to the night visitor's arrival in darkness guided by inner necessity. Munakata's translation of the night-visit theme through the cormorant series gives it a specifically Japanese natural and cultural inflection.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The Night Visit, from the series "Story of the Cormorant" was created by Shiko Munakata (棟方志功) in About 1938.
Yes — The Night Visit, from the series "Story of the Cormorant" is part of the Story of the Cormorant series by Shiko Munakata.
The Night Visit, from the series "Story of the Cormorant" depicts birds & flowers and night scenes.