The Narrow Ivy Road

Unable to find love, or advance his career in the capital, the protagonist of [The Tales of Ise] travels east. At a narrow road overgrown with ivy, he meets a man headed back to the capital and entrusts him with a message for a lady there. The scene resembles the set of a stage as we see two men and a horse, surrounded by mountains of varying colors, with their backs to us. We can see central man‘s face in profile as he glances up at another man trying to carry luggage up and over the mountains. This 18th-century painting is depicting a chapter from The Tales of Ise, a Heian-period classic of Japanese literature. Tired of life in the capital, the protagonist sets out on a journey deep into the mountains in Suruga Province in present-day Shizuoka Prefecture.

As he travels along a narrow road overgrown with ivy and maples, he meets a Buddhist ascetic who he knows. He entrusts this acquaintance with a message for his lover back in the capital. The painting depicts the protagonist watching after the departing ascetic. The man has cut off ties with his life back in the capital, but it seems even people who renounce the world are not immune to feelings of fear, loneliness, and longing. The story is set in summer in The Tales of Ise, but the crimson leaves of the ivy here suggest the writer has chosen the more lonesome setting of autumn. Fukae Roshu was active in the 18th century, during the mid-Edo period. He is said to have studied painting under the renowned artist Ogata Korin.

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