Shiokumi　汐汲み

KEY WORD :　art history / paintings

Lit. brinemaidens. Women who worked hauling brine to make salt. In Japanese art, Shiokumi often indicates the sisters *Matsukaze 松風 and Murasame 村雨 in particular. The SENJUSHOU 撰集抄 (early Kamakura period) tells of the 10c courtier Ariwara no Yukihira's 在原行平 (818-93) exile at Suma 須磨 where he fell in love with two brinemaidens. This story, along with several of Yukihira's poems from KOKINSHUU 古今集 (nos. 962 & 355), form the basis of Kannami's 観阿弥 (1333-84) *nou 能 play MATSUKAZE in which the ghosts of Matsukaze and Murasame wait at Suma beach for Yukihira's promised return, cherishing his outer cloak and cap left as keepsakes. The play was substantially transformed in Chikamatsu Monzaemon's 近松門左衛門 (1653-1724) joururi 浄瑠璃 MATSUKAZE MURASAME SOKUTAI KAGAMI 松風村雨束帯鏡 of 1694. From the joururi several "dance pieces" shosagoto 所作事 developed in the early 18c which in turn led to the creation of several *kabuki 歌舞伎 plays in the mid and late 18c. Illustrations of generic Shiokumi are found largely in *meisho-e 名所絵 screen paintings of Akashi 明石 and Suma. The noh play MATSUKAZE is illustrated in an 16c handscroll (Spencer col, N.Y. Public Library), while the shosagoto version is represented in a painting by Hanabusa Itchou 英一蝶 (1652-1724, Yabumoto col). The kabuki plays are pictured in several *ukiyo-e 浮世絵 prints, most notably a diptych by Tani Bunchou 谷文晁 (1763-1841) and Katsukawa Shunshou 勝川春章 (1726-93), while Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木春信 (1724-70) developed two compositional types of Shiokumi *bijinga 美人画 that were widely imitated by Torii Kiyonaga 鳥居清長 (1752-1815), Utagawa Toyoharu 歌川豊春 (1735-1814) and many followers.

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