Nō Motifs in the Decoration of a Mid-Edo Period Kosode

Abstract

pressed, or explicitly depicted, must also imply, connote, and evoke ranges of further meaning or feeling. A cherry blossom is never merely a cherry blossom. It is also the quintessential symbol of mortal beauty, particularly feminine beauty; of the ephemerality of all mortal things; and of the guardsmanturned-monk Saigyo (1118-90), arguably Japan's best-known and -loved poet, who celebrated in his verses the evanescent glory of wild cherry groves in flower in the Yoshino Mountains.' As an art form, traditional Japanese clothing was laden with cultural significance analogous to that found in Western tapestries but rarely, if ever, in Western apparel. It is in this aspect that traditional Japanese clothing differs most profoundly and significantly from Western, and it is this aspect of which most Western viewers are