Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

The print file prints up to 4.4 x 11.3 in at 300 ppi — fine for smaller trims or inset artwork, but too small to fill a 6 x 9 in cover at 300 ppi. Taller than a 6 x 9 cover: crop about 41% of the height.

Among Japan’s greatest poets, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro’s (c. 660–724) portrait was often displayed at poetry competitions. Here, he gazes up at a falling cherry blossom, his writing box before him, brush and paper in his hands. A short biography and one of his poems are inked on painted rectangles meant to look like decorated papers. The first part of the poem has been mostly lost, but from what remains, it is possible to recognize it as Dimly, dimly in the morning mist that lies over Akashi Bay, my longings follow with the ship that vanishes behind the distant isle. —Translated by Robert H.