Murasaki Shikibu

Yashima Gakutei designed this portrait of Murasaki Shikibu in 1822, paying homage to the eleventh-century Heian court lady who composed The Tale of Genji, the foundational masterpiece of Japanese prose fiction. The print survives in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which has assembled a substantial collection of Gakutei's surimono and book illustrations.

Murasaki appears in the long, layered junihitoe robes associated with Heian court women, her hair flowing in a single dark cascade down her back in the classical taregami style. She is depicted in an attitude of poetic composition, the brush poised above paper as if mid-thought, and Gakutei carefully renders the cuffs, hems, and trailing layers of her costume to evoke the centuries-old elegance of the imperial court. A writing implement, paper, and perhaps a glimpse of garden complete the iconography of literary inspiration.

Gakutei worked in the Hokusai school tradition, learning from Totoya Hokkei and absorbing Katsushika Hokusai's mature interest in classical and historical subjects. This portrait reflects the early-nineteenth-century vogue among kyōka poetry circles for revisiting figures from Japan's literary past, especially women writers like Murasaki and Sei Shōnagon whose canonical works structured Edo conceptions of refined taste. The surimono format was ideal for such projects: small print runs commissioned by poetry clubs allowed for nuanced color, metallic pigments, and embossing that suit the delicacy of Heian-style robes.

Though relatively restrained in palette, the print exemplifies the surimono designer's ability to evoke quiet interior states through pose and costume alone. The Victoria and Albert Museum's holding preserves Yashima Gakutei's careful, learned reimagining of one of Japan's most celebrated literary figures, a subject perfectly aligned with the cultivated tastes of the Hokusai school's surimono patronage.