Ama no Tajikara no Mikoto from The Cave Door of Spring (1825): Art, History and Details

Ama no Tajikara no Mikoto from The Cave Door of Spring (1825) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection. The museum's creator attribution is Totoya Hokkei (Japanese, 1780–1850).

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

These elegant surimono prints come from a set of five images inspired by the legend of the Shinto Supreme Sun Goddess, Amaterasu. She was once so offended by her brother that she retreated to a cave, leaving the earth in darkness. Several attempts to lure her out with cocks crowing, music-making, and a goddess dancing failed, but a mirror hung from a nearby tree made Amaterasu curious, bringing her to the entrance of the cave. A stone was quickly placed at the entrance to block her way back into the cave, and light was restored to the world. Each print is set against a blue evening sky with embossed clouds enriched with gold, silver, and copper.

Object facts

• Title: Ama no Tajikara no Mikoto from The Cave Door of Spring
• Date: 1825
• Creator attribution: Totoya Hokkei (Japanese, 1780–1850)
• Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
• Type: Print
• Technique: fourth of a pentaptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
• Dimensions: Sheet: 22.6 x 35.3 cm (8 7/8 x 13 7/8 in.)
• Collection: Japanese Art
• Department: Japanese Art
• Accession number: 1940.990.4

Collection credit

Bequest of James Parmelee

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.