Poet Semimaru with His Lute in a Bag

Katsushika Hokusai 葛飾北斎 (1760-1849) · 1839

Semimaru, a legendary figure said to have been the fourth son of Emperor Daigo (rEIGNED 897-930), was sent to Mount Osaka because he was blind. Myths and legends about Semimaru form the basis of the medieval Noh play of the same name. In the Edo period he was featured as a character in puppet plays and kabuki drama. In an earlier picture in Hokusai's popular multivolume Manga sketchbooks, Semimaru holds a lute (biwa). Here, his instrument is in a cloth bag, and his expression seems introspective. Hokusai had reached his eightieth year when he painted this work in ink and pale colors, a style he had practiced for over forty years. Many of his paintings of this period are thought to include elements of reflective self-portrayal.