Lit. "cloth-pulling waterfalls." A series of waterfalls at the head of the Ikuta 生田 River in Hyōgo Prefecture. In ancient times, many poems were composed in praise of these falls, whose name lent itself to association with such images as "white threads," "bleaching," and "robes." Most famous for their mention in Section 87 of Ise monogatari 伊勢物語 (The Tales of Ise; see *Ise ｍonogatari-e 伊勢物語絵), they were illustrated by such artists as Sōtatsu 宗達 (?-ca.1640; Minneapolis Institute of Art). Such pictures often include the following poem by Ariwara no Narihira 在原業平 (825-80):
ぬき乱る Nuki midaru
人こそあるらし hito koso aru rashi
白玉の shira-tama no
間なくも散るか ma nakumo chiru ka
袖のせきばに sode no sekiba niIt looks as though
someone must be unstringing
those clear cascading gems.
Alas! My sleeves are too narrow
to hold them all— translated by H. McCullough
The Nunobiki 布引 Falls also appear as a landscape subject in prints by *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 artists, such as Utagawa Hiroshige 歌川広重 (also known as Andō 安藤 Hiroshige, 1797-1858), and, in connection with Akugenta Yoshihira 悪源太義平 (1140-60) and Heike monogatari 平家物語 (The Tale of the Heike) in warrior prints such as those by Utagawa Kuniyoshi 歌川国芳 (1797-1861).