Talk:Suzuki Harunobu

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Mitate-e (parody piece)
Harunobu was known for commonly using "parody art" known as mitate-e and this needs to be explained more clearly. Right now, this is addressed by the sentence "His work is rich in literary allusion, and he often quotes Japanese classical poetry, but the accompanying illustrations often gently poke fun at the subject" in the article.

This mitate-e came up as an offshoot of the Talk:Murasaki Shikibu (cf. Harunobu's Lady Murasaki writing.png). A parody art means it portrays a contemporary Edo period woman play-acting a scene from a historic or legendary figure, but still using contemporary clothing and objects. The fact that a piece is a mitate-e is not always given in the title, but it is probably obvious to initiates that this is a parody, since the woman wears contemporary Edo-period costume, and probably this is a woman from the pleasure quarters. However I haven't located a comment specifically on this piece to be able to say it.

Here is a list of some "Mitate Murasaki Shikibu" pieces by Harunobu and others, to get some idea:

(Japanese, 1686–1764) [url=http://www.metmuseum.org/collections/search-the-collections/60001231 Metropolitan Museum of Art (Accession Number:JP682)] --Kiyoweap (talk) 09:23, 27 May 2012 (UTC)
 * Harunobu, Thirty-six Poetry Immortals (三十六歌仙), which includes "Mitate Murasaki Shikibu" (1767-8). Interesting because "there is a stack of books labeled with the title ''Meidai waka zenshū (The Meidai poetry anthology)" (明題和歌全集)(, p.40;, p.90 "parodied the traditional image of Murasaki Shikibu sitting at Ishiyamadera".)
 * "Suzuki Harunobu Eight Sights in Omi Province: Autumn Moon over Ishiyama (a parody of Lady Murasaki writing the Tale of Genji at Ishiyama Temple), Meiwa era (1764-72) Chuban" ( p.97)
 * Hishikawa Moronobu, Mitate Ishiyamadera Murasaki Shikibu zu,, Mizuta Museum of Art., attributed to Hishikawa Moronobu
 * Okumura Masanobu, "Courtesan in the Guise of Murasaki Shikibu Seeking Inspiration (Mitate Murasaki Shikibu)"

Gender-bending
It was already pointed out in Talk:Murasaki Shikibu that Harunobu's Lady Murasaki parody (probably) piece comprises one of five pieces, representing the "Five Constants" (五常) or "the five cardinal virtues" of Confucianism.


 * The Lady Shikibu print represented "Faith (信)".
 * Another piece in the series, " Justice Righteousness (義)".
 * Another piece in is "Rei" (礼 or 禮) commons:File:Suzuki-Harunobu-five-virtues.jpg

The piece "Righteousness (Gi)" is mentioned in, though not really pertinent to this section. The gender-bending point I want to make is that the two figures, thought dressed as women, are actually iroko or boy prostitutes from this type of brothels (kagema jaya) perhaps around the Yushima area, according to Kobayashi (, p.26, p.45). This point is also mentioned in a blog, by a trans-gender author, Junko Mitsuhashi (ja:三橋順子).

The fact that they are boys is indicated by certain visual hints according to Kobayashi, who says the tassels signify their iroko status. There might be more subtle hints (of the toki-e or hanji-mono/rebus type) but I don't know enough about this. Another website that posts this picture is. There is not much text on the site to give information, but the next item in the gallery on that site is a mitate of the samurai warrior Ōta Dōkan, but shows what looks like a girl among the townfolk. This type of gender mixing mitate seems common though, and occurs in other artists.

Anyhow, and homoeroticity (see ) needs to be covered one way or another.--07:46, 29 May 2012 (UTC)(amended from 09:29, 27 May 2012 (UTC))