The fisherman Hakuryo and Mount Fuji

Hishikawa Sori 菱川宗理 (active 1789-1818) · 1770-1820

Sori's range of subjects, like Hokusai's, was broader than most artists of ukiyo-e. His work included classical literary subjects, such as Six Immortal Poets, and sympathetic renderings of humble peasants, like this fisherman posed in strict profile with the sacred Mount Fuji silhouetted in the background. The colored feather cloak worn by the fisherman alludes to a Japanese legend about the fisherman Hakuryo, who encounters a beautiful spirit near Mount Fuji. Startled by his humble appearance, she flees, leaving behind her feathered cloak (hagoromo). The story became the subject of a famous Noh play.