Harunobu: Daruma, mitate, and feminine motifs

I was recently reading the essay “Feminine Motifs in Bodhidharma Symbology in Japan“, it was really interesting to see the different ways in which bits of Buddhist lore were interwoven into Ukiyo-e. I strongly feel that most of this was done as a form of mitate and really for no other reason (such as those posited by the author – suggesting particular allusions to feminism in Buddhist mythology). Viewers of the prints were well familiar with Daruma and seeing him in these other forms (and even being depicted as a female) made for great fun.

I did some more reading – specifically, reading some relevant essays from the book ‘Designed for Pleasure’ concerning Masanobu, mitate and Darmua – and one on Harunobu and the invention of nishiki-e.

I’m more convinced that little attention was being played to the possible Buddhist interpretations of Daruma, when he was depicted cavorting with courtesans and much more so to the amusing juxtaposition of a holy figure and a prostitute.

“…His whole demeanor suggests rather incriminatingly that, for all his vaunted self-discipline, this most austere personage must contend with a residue of human passion. During the Edo period, the frustration of living under repressive conditions pushed frivolous tendencies to the level of social satire, and it also contributed to an obsessive interest in amorous liaisons with the enchanting denizens of the pleasure quaters. It is not surprising that Daruma, seemingly so in control, became an object of parody and ribaldry.”

From: www.onmarkproductions.com/html/daruma.shtml#consorting

Masanobu, and others, popularized the art form of mitate-e – pictures that intentionally obscured their true message or showed material in surprising, new, ways. Harunobu built upon that – especially since that particular art form was so greatly appreciated by his clientele: Poetry clubs. These clubs routinely collected and exchanged prints – and the colorful, and intellectually stimulating, prints of Harunobu were a huge hit. Juxtaposing the stoic Darmua with an aspect of the floating world (a courtesan) served to provide a bit of levity and wit – especially since an identification of Daruma and an understanding of his history would be required to get the full humor of the print.

These essays were especially timely as another Harunobu mitate came up just recently on the Japanese Art History Forum by Sawako Chang that exhibits this symbolism:

In this particular picture there is a man and a women riding on a crustacean, a scroll, along with a octopus. It all seems rather absurd but given all the pieces, it makes a lot of sense.

Riding on a reed over the ocean is a direct reference to Daruma crossing the Yangtze river – in this case that particular action being taken in this fashion is absolutely a mitate. Another version of this event, by Harunobu, can be seen in this particular print in the British Musuem:

The large lobster is an instant give away that this is relating to the Ichikawa acting family (they used a red lobster as their particular emblem). For example, in the following surimono:

In the forum it was posited that the scroll reading could correlate to the famous scene of the Chushingura, in which a character is reading a scroll and a man, hiding under the porch, reads the bottom of it as it is lowered, unbeknownst to the reader.

All of this points to a solid conclusion that this is a mitate honoring an Ichikawa actor, playing off of the arrival of Daruma into China. Given that this is playing of an arrival it makes sense that this is likely the arrival of a new Ichikawa actor into the family.