The Eight Views of Ōmi

The Eight Views of Ōmi (近江八景, Ōmi hakkei) is a hanging-scroll painting by Tomioka Tessai depicting the classical eight scenic views of Lake Biwa in Ōmi Province — Karasaki Pine in Night Rain, Returning Sails at Yabase, Evening Snow at Hira, Evening Bell at Mii-dera, Autumn Moon at Ishiyama, Evening Glow at Seta, Wild Geese at Katata, and Clearing Storm at Awazu — executed in ink and color on silk in his characteristic late style. The Eight Views of Ōmi, modeled on the Chinese Eight Views of Xiao-Xiang of the Song dynasty, became one of the canonical subjects of Japanese painting in the medieval period and were treated by countless Tosa, Kanō, Rinpa, ukiyo-e, and nanga masters across the Edo and Meiji eras (notably by Hiroshige in his celebrated 1834 woodblock series). Tessai's treatment, characteristic of his bunjinga (literati painting) approach, distributes the eight scenes within a single picture, integrating them through inscriptions in classical Chinese that quote the traditional source poems for each view and meditate on the geography and history of Lake Biwa. The picture is one of many on the Ōmi theme that Tessai produced over the course of his long career.