Drawing the First Water of the New Year ca. 1769–70 Suzuki Harunobu Japanese Symbols of spring abound in this poem. A young couple draws the “first water of the New Year” (wakamizu) in decorated buckets; pine saplings sit by the doorway, and plum blossoms burst into bloom. The scene also calls to mind an episode from the tenth-century Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari) known as the “Well curb,” in which young lovers recall measuring their heights by the well as children. It readsHaru o hete kyō tatematsuru wakamizu ni chitose no kage ya matsu ukamuramu. As spring arrives, today, we offer to the god
Drawing the First Water of the New Year ca. 1769–70 Suzuki Harunobu Japanese Symbols of spring abound in this poem. A young couple draws the “first water of the New Year” (wakamizu) in decorated buckets; pine saplings sit by the doorway, and plum blossoms burst into bloom. The scene also calls to mind an episode from the tenth-century Tales of Ise (Ise monogatari) known as the “Well curb,” in which young lovers recall measuring their heights by the well as children. It readsHaru o hete kyō tatematsuru wakamizu ni chitose no kage ya matsu ukamuramu. As spring arrives, today, we offer to the godsthe year’s first drawn waterattached with pine shoots as from time immemorial—Trans. John T. Carpenter. Drawing the First Water of the New Year 36635
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