Marking the Retirement of Yukyo Seiji

This print marks the retirement of Yükyo Seiji 勇居正二, a participant in a nineteenth-century Osaka-based poetry club. At the center of the print are Seiji’s introductory remarks, followed by his farewell poem. Poems by his daughter, Koume, the "students of the group," and the poets Rikizö and Futajö Suio are located to the extreme left. For this occasion, the Osaka-based painter and print designer Matsukawa Hanzan created a work filled with classical allusions and symbolism. To the right, a Heian period (794–1185) court aristocrat has completed the first archery competition of the New Year and receives his prizes: a bowl of sake wine and a miniature table object (okimono) with the auspicious combination of pine, plum and bamboo, all of which are exhibited during the New Year season. The character for "long life" on the coat of the aristocrat, crane symbols on the attendant’s coat and ever-green pines throughout the composition all express a wish for longevity. These symbols and New Year’s allusions in the images and poems indicate that the retirement ceremony was completed as part of the New Year celebrations.