Sakai Hōitsu, was among the most accomplished painters of Edo-period. His artistic style was influenced by different style like Kano-school, Ukiyo-e as well as Rinpa School, which dominated his artistic style.
This collection of eleven scrolls was once part of a complete set of twelve, each one illustrating Japanese customs and the objects tied to different months throughout the year. Among them, two scrolls highlight significant traditional events: the ritual of the First Month, known as Shihōhai, wherein the Emperor and dignitaries pay homage to the Four Cardinal Directions, and the “Shichi-go-san mairi” festival celebrated in the Eleventh Month for young boys aged three and five, and girls aged five and seven.
Other images in this series showcase various cultural artifacts, including the ornamental scented ball, or kusudama, featured during the Fifth Month festivities, and a particular type of mulberry leaf linked to the Tanabata or Milky Way festival in the Seventh Month. The Eighth Month scroll offers a beautiful, poetic depiction of autumn, adorned with bellflowers, maidenflowers, and knotweed, all set against a luminous full moon.
Typical of the Rinpa school’s signature style, which heavily influenced Sakai Hōitsu, the Sixth and Eighth Month compositions utilize the technique known as tarashikomi. This method involves applying ink or color to a wet surface of paper or silk, resulting in a captivating pooled or mottled effect. Moreover, Rinpa artworks often include subtle references to poetry and literature, evident in the Sixth Month scroll, which alludes to Chapter Four (“Yūgao”) of The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari).
Sakai Hōitsu’s Activities of the Twelve Months handles time not as a linear march, but as a poetic, cyclical dance between human ritual and the natural world. Rooted in the Japanese aesthetic of mono no aware (the poignant awareness of transience), the scrolls interpret the year through changing seasons, seamlessly pairing imperial court ceremonies with seasonal flora.By juxtaposing elite courtly milestones like the Shihōhai alongside popular festivals, Hōitsu frames human culture as an organic extension of the changing landscape. Furthermore, through the evocative, pooled pigments of the tarashikomi technique and subtle nods to masterpieces like The Tale of Genji, the series operates as a visual anthology of classical literature. Ultimately, the artwork elevates simple calendar tracking into a profound, meditative exploration of cosmic order, where shifting seasons and fleeting human customs exist in perfect, harmonious equilibrium.
