Sugawara Michizane Going into Exile

Sugawara Michizane Going into Exile by Suzuki Harunobu (museum date 1758) treats one of Japan's most famous tragic narratives, the banishment of the great Heian-era statesman and scholar Sugawara no Michizane to Dazaifu in 901 after a court intrigue engineered by his rival Fujiwara no Tokihira. Michizane died in exile and was subsequently deified as Tenjin, the kami of scholarship and calligraphy; his story was canonized in poetry, Noh, and kabuki, and his plum-tree poem mourning his garden in Kyoto became one of the most quoted lines in the Japanese canon. Harunobu, more often associated with Edo bijin-ga than with historical tableaux, brings to this scene the same supple line and tonal restraint that defined his contemporary work. The composition focuses on Michizane in the act of departure, perhaps near a plum branch that references his lament, or on the road that would take him from the capital to Kyushu. The mitate sensibility characteristic of Suzuki Harunobu's broader practice may be present, framing the historical figure in a way that resonates with Edo memory of the story. The nishiki-e technique allows for the careful separation of the figure's robe, foliage, and ground, giving the historical scene a coherence that earlier multi-block prints could not have achieved. Source: Art Institute of Chicago, no. 44198.