Irises

Iris (hanashobu) imagery has deep resonance in Japanese art, evoking the Tales of Ise and the Yatsuhashi episode at the Mikawa marshes. In the [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) tradition, irises typically frame a woman in early summer dress, often a yukata or single-layer kimono appropriate to the rainy season. Shimura's Irises would likely place the figure beside the tall vertical sweep of iris stalks, using the deep purples and blue-violets of the petals as a counterpoint to the paler tones of skin and undergarment. Mokuhanga is well suited to the iris motif because the broad, flat petal shapes register cleanly from carved blocks and accept [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation along the petal edges. Shimura's treatment exploits the contrast between the rigid linearity of the leaves and the soft curvature of the woman's posture. Within his career, the seasonal-flower-with-figure compositions extend the bijin-ga genre into [kacho-e](/glossary/kacho-e) territory, blending two strands of [shin-hanga](/glossary/shin-hanga) subject matter that had been developed separately by Ohara Koson and Hashiguchi Goyo.