This print derives from a series representing Five Elements of the physical world according to a Chinese system: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. A moon over mountains embellishes the plectrum guard of the biwa, indicating that this is the famous lute named Seizan that appears in the Tale of the Heike. While in China in the 9th century, Fujiwara no Sadatoshi received three biwa from his master: Genjō, Shishimaru, and Seizan. On his journey back to Japan, a storm raged around Sadatoshi’s ship, so he dropped Shishimaru into the sea to appease the Dragon God. He gave the surviving lutes to the emperor. The sound these elicits tears in both the performer and listeners. Saraikyo’s poem is one of two on the print and it describes a view of Lake Biwa—so named because its shape is like the instrument—in a “New Year’s dream.”
Note: the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation has four of the prints from Hokkei’s Five Elements; Phoenix Art Museum recently acquired “Earth,” the fifth print from the series.