忘らるる

身をば思はず

誓ひてし

人の命の

惜しくもあるかな    

うこん

わすらるる

みをばおもはず

ちかひてし

ひとのいのちの

をしくもあるかな

Lady Ukon

That he has left me,

Is not my concern at all,

But he made a vow

On his own mortal life,

Is not that his greatest wrong?

Hokusai

Lady Ukon (dates uncertain; first half tenth century) was the daughter of Fujiwara no Suenawa, a captain of the bodyguards whose title was Ukon no shosho, hence her name. She was lady-in-waiting of Onshi, Emperor Daigo’s wife. She was active in poetry contests. There are five anecdotes about her in the Yamato Monogatari (episodes 81-85), in which this poem first appeared.

作者略伝と語釈

On Hokusai’s drawing we see workmen tying a tope around the torii or gate. The torii is a sacred marker. Here we see an old one and a new one behind it. A rope, the simenawa, is being tied around it to signify a special tie or bond. It looks like the scene depicted is a hyakudo mairi, ‘hundred pilgrimages’, when a person walks back and forth a hundred times under the gate praying each time, using pieces of string to keep count; this ceremony is often done to get the help of the gods in cases of great disaster. A priest is looking on.