Artisans' Poetry Contest Held at Tōhokuin Temple

This is the oldest extant example of picture scrolls of poetry contests in which poets take the form of artisans. In this work, ten craftsmen compose poems on the themes of love and the moon. This illustrated scroll depicts a fictional event set in the autumn of 1214, at the start of the Kamakura period. A group of artisans had gathered at Tohokuin Temple in Kyoto and they decided to hold an Uta-awase poetry contest, like those held by the nobility at the time. The artisans have divided into left and right teams to compose poetry on the themes of 'the moon' and 'love.' They are competing on the quality of the poetry, with a scroll mounter acting as a judge.

The participants sit facing each other on the left and right in the traditional style of a poetry contest, but these are not elegant members of the aristocracy. Rather, the contestants are ten artisans: a physician, a fortune teller, a blacksmith, a carpenter, a swordsmith, a metal caster, a shrine maiden, a gambler, a fisherman and a merchant. The scroll realistically portrays life at that time, as evinced by the sorry sight of the gambler, stripped of all his possessions. The poems themselves are richly comedic and satirical. They also afford us a glimpse into the customs and sentiments of artisans from that era.

— Museum description: Tokyo National Museum (CC BY 4.0), via ColBase / Japan Search.