Yoshie Doi

　Katsushika Hokusai, a representative ukiyo-e artist from the late Edo period, is known for depicting Mount Fuji in works such as “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji” and “Hokusai Manga.” He is also famous for having moved 93 times in his 90-year life. By the time he was 75, he had already moved 56 times.

　Moving in the Edo period was supposedly easy, with administrative procedures involved, but this is an abnormal number. It seems that this was due to people not being able to clean their homes properly.

　Kyoto was also home to a writer who loved to move. During the Edo period, Rai Sanyo coined the phrase “Sanshisuimei : mountain vistas and clear waters” while looking east from the Kamo River. The phrase “Sanshisuimei” refers to the time when the sunset is taking place. Today, it is used as a pillow word for Kyoto, but it originated when Rai Sanyo wrote in a letter, “Please come when Sanshisuimei time are beautiful.

　In 1822, at the age of 43, Rai Sanyo moved into Suisai-so, his sixth home since coming to Kyoto. Suisai-so was located on the banks of the Kamo River, north of Marutamachi Bridge, on Higashi-Sanbongi-dori. In 1828, an extension was made to Suisai-so, and a detached villa called “Sanshi Suimeisho” was built.

　Shiga Naoya, a representative writer of the Shirakaba school, was a frequent mover, having moved house a total of 23 times. He lived in many historic cities that were easy to live in and rich in culture, including Onomichi, Matsue, Abiko, Kyoto, Nara, and Kamakura, which is thought to have had a great influence on his writing career. He moved from Yamashina, Kyoto to Nara in 1925 (Taisho 14) when he was 42 years old.

　Tanizaki Junichiro moved 43 times over a 79-year period. Senkantei (now Sekisontei), the famous residence depicted in his novels, is located next to Shimogamo Shrine and Tadasu no Mori Forest in Kyoto’s Sakyo Ward. Built over 100 years ago, the tranquil residence encompasses a 2,000-square-meter site, with a palace-style main house, study, tea room, and more, all centered around a pond. The phrase “Inei-raisan : In Praise of Shadows” is a synonym for the aesthetic sense of darkness in a townhouse in Kamigyo Ward, and the phrase “Sanshisuimei” (mountain, clear water, beautiful scenery) is a richly flavored phrase born from his experience living in Kyoto.

　In “Makuranosoushi,” which begins with “Spring is the dawn,” Sei Shonagon states, “Dawn is best in spring.” She also goes on to recommend different times of day for each season: “night in summer,” “twilight in autumn,” and “early morning in winter.” As I write this, images of Kyoto come back to mind one after another. Kyoto is picturesque 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

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Translated by Masami Otani

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