Fireflies at Uji River

Held by the Minneapolis Institute of Art (acc. 2013.31.31), this hanging scroll on silk depicts the firefly-haunted reaches of the Uji river south of Kyoto in the long, narrow vertical format favored for tokonoma display. The Uji nightscape is a subject Shōnen returned to throughout his career; the river south of Kyoto was associated in classical Japanese poetry with summer fireflies and the spirits of the fallen Heike and Genji warriors. The composition is built up in soft layers of ink and color on silk, with the dark mass of the riverbank at the lower right, the broad sweep of moonlit water rising up the scroll, and the fireflies themselves as small bright accents scattered through the air above. The Minneapolis scroll is a useful companion to the Met's larger Fireflies Over the Uji River by Moonlight and indicates the range of formats in which Shōnen worked his most personal subject.