Sugawara Michizane Traveling to Dazaifu Unidentified early 17th century Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), a prominent courtier, scholar, and poet of the early Heian court, can be counted among the greatest culture heroes of ancient Japan. His reputation was only enhanced after his death when it became known that he had been falsely accused of wrongdoing and denied promotion in the court hierarchy by rivals in the palace (especially of the Fujiwara clan) despite his superb qualifications. This six-panel screen shows Michizane, after he was demoted to a low-ranking office—de facto exile from the

Sugawara Michizane Traveling to Dazaifu Unidentified early 17th century Sugawara no Michizane (845–903), a prominent courtier, scholar, and poet of the early Heian court, can be counted among the greatest culture heroes of ancient Japan. His reputation was only enhanced after his death when it became known that he had been falsely accused of wrongdoing and denied promotion in the court hierarchy by rivals in the palace (especially of the Fujiwara clan) despite his superb qualifications. This six-panel screen shows Michizane, after he was demoted to a low-ranking office—de facto exile from the court—and had to travel from the capital of Kyoto to Dazaifu, a faraway posting on the island of Ky?sh?. Tragically, after two years of being relegated to Daizaifu, he died, pleading his innocence to the colorful screen painting on gold-leafed paper, with its continuous landscape background captures events at various stages of the courtier’s banishment to Dazaifu. In the upper right, we see Michizane in court costume bidding farewell to Retired Emperor Uda (reigned 887–897), who had been one of his most fervent supporters, and who in retirement took Buddhist vows, so he appears in the garb of a high-ranking monk. The central scene shows the procession accompanying Michizane being conveyed in an ox-drawn carriage as he proceeds to the Bay of Naniwa (present-day Osaka), where he boarded a boat—visible in the background—to Dazaifu. One of the men following the carriage is shown wiping his tears as he grieves Michizane’s tragic fate. This detail is borrowed directly from earlier handscroll versions of this Michizane’s death, various natural disasters—floods, lightning, fires—and a pandemic that killed various Fujiwara courtiers and an emperor wreaked havoc on the capital, and members of the palace eventually came to believe that they were caused by the vengeful spirit of Michizane. To placate the soul of the deceased courtier, his court ra

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