The Poet Sugawara Michizane c. early 1760s

Kitao Shigemasa’s woodblock print, The Poet Sugawara Michizane, invites us into the world of 18th century Japan. Shigemasa captures the essence of Sugawara Michizane, a Heian period scholar, poet, and politician who was later deified as Tenjin, the god of learning. The print portrays Michizane in exile, riding an ox, accompanied by an attendant. Shigemasa’s rendering of Michizane speaks to the cultural reverence for scholarship and the tragic fall from grace, while also tapping into the emotional resonance of displacement. Exiled due to political machinations, Michizane embodies the vulnerability of intellectual and political elites. Shigemasa’s work touches on themes of injustice, resilience, and the enduring power of cultural memory. It prompts reflections on how society treats its intellectuals and the emotional toll of political persecution, themes that resonate across cultures and time.