moon

Abe no Nakamaro was a Japanese scholar and waka poet of the Nara [CE 710 to 794], period. He served as a Japanese envoy to Tang China and later became the protectorate governor of Annan, as Vietnam was known under Tang occupation.

Abe no Nakamaro is thought to have composed the above verse before boarding a vessel from China back to Japan – a voyage that ended in shipwreck. Other historians suggest that Abe no Nakamaro wrote this verse in Hanoi, gazing up at the moon and dreaming of his homeland, which he would never see again.

In Manyoshu, an 8th century collection of waka poetry, almost 200 poems use descriptions of the moon to indirectly but very effectively depict dramatic scenes and the writers’ emotions. Japanese features an astonishingly wide variety of words to describe the moon in various phases, seasons, weathers, times of day, and shades of color, All reinforce the central importance that Japanese people place on the passage of time and the emotions prompted by the awareness of fleeting moments.

It is fascinating that poems composed hundreds of years ago can still create vivid paintings in our minds and evoke rich sentiments and emotions. I hope my paintings of the moon will etch beautiful verses in people’s hearts and awake their precious memories or conjure up new sensations.