uta-awase-e 歌合絵

A series of paintings, usually in handscroll format, arranged as if in a poetry contest uta-awase 歌合, where poems composed on assigned topics by members of two opposing teams are judged. These poetry contests originated in the late 9th century and became very popular among aristocrats during the 12th century. The paintings usually are imaginary portraits of the poets or, occasionally, landscapes described in the poem. Uta-awase-e are divided into the following three types.

1　*Kasen-e 歌仙絵, or imaginary portraits of famous (literally immortal) poets. In the Satakebon sanjūrokkasen-e 佐竹本三十六歌仙絵 (The Satake Version of Portraits of The Thirty-six Immortal Poets) of the mid-13th century, the earliest extant example of kasen-e, poets were divided into two groups to make eighteen pairs. This arrangement was followed in other versions of the illustrated Thirty-six Immortal Poets. A painted version of an another anthology of an imaginary poetry contest, Jidai fudō uta-awase 時代不同歌合 (The Competition among Poets of Different Generations), was offered in 1336 to a shrine dedicated to the ex-Emperor Gotoba 後鳥羽 (1180-1239), compiler of the anthology. Extant illustrated examples of the same anthology, which date from the 14th century or later, often painted in the *hakubyō 白描 technique. These imaginary portraits of famous historical poets occupy an important part of the uta-awase-e tradition.

2　An illustrated record of an actual poetry contest. Although there are many records of poetry contests, only a few were illustrated. The Shinmeisho-e uta-awase emaki 新名所絵歌合絵巻 (Illustrated Handscroll of The Poetry Contest Based on Paintings of New Scenic Spots) in the collection of the Ise Jingū 伊勢神宮 records an actual poetry competition which took place in late 1294 or 1295. It was held among sixteen priests of the Ise Jingū, each of whom composed ten poems based on ten paintings of the selected noteworthy sites in Ise Province. It originally consisted of two handscrolls, only the second of which is extant, but the original structure can be conceived from the copies. Each scroll consisted of five pairs of text and painting. Each text, in which eight pairs of poems made at the poetry contest were written, is followed by a landscape painting on which the poems were based.

3　Shokunin uta-awase-e 職人歌合絵 (Illustrations of a Poetry Competition among People of Various Occupations) is a generic term for an imaginary poetry contest in which the competing poets are depicted with the garb and tools of various occupations. The term shokunin 職人 means craftsmen in modern Japanese, but in the 13th-15th century implied virtually any member of the urban population, as opposed to an aristocrat or a peasant. People such as physicians, fortune tellers, dancers, painters, metal-workers, woodcutters, and gamblers are depicted with poems attributed to them. It is a competition conceived by a single author, and the attribution to persons of various occupations is merely a device to allow artists to explore genre themes. Numerous versions and later copies of illustrations of several different texts of shokunin poetry contests, which were most popular in the late Kamakura and Muromachi periods, are extant. Two outstanding examples are: Tōhokuin shokunin uta-awase emaki 東北院職人歌合絵巻 (Illustrated Handscroll of The Tōhokuin Poetry Contest among Persons of Various Occupations, early 14th century; Tokyo National Museum), and Sanjūniban shokunin uta-awase emaki 三十二番職人歌合絵巻 (Illustrated Handscroll of The Poetry Contest among Persons of Various Occupations in Thirty-two Rounds, Muromachi period; Tenri 天理 Library, Nara).