Under-kimono (nagajuban) with design of grasses and poem card

Layered underneath a kimono, this garment would have been hidden from view except during dressing, undressing, or other similarly intimate moments. The written words and images found here are from the world of romance. The decoration on the back consists of stylized reeds and a famous love poem by courtier Minamoto Hitoshi (880–951), inscribed on a square “card” (shikishi) of the type traditionally used for writing poetry. On the card a design of reeds under a full moon complements the imagery of the poem.

Though I reveal my love
as sparingly as the sparse reeds
that grow in low bamboo fields,
it overwhelms me—why is it
that I must love her so?

asajiu no
ono no shinohara
shinoburedo
amarite nado ka
hito no koishiki

—Translated by Joshua Mostow