2026Journal articleFree to read
DOREEN MUELLER
Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University
he Buddhist nun Ōtagaki Rengetsu 大田垣蓮月 (1791-1875) is known for the intriguing combination of her own waka 和歌 poetry, distinctive calligraphy, and pottery in nineteenth-century Kyoto.Her pottery appealed to afficionados of tea, including matcha 抹茶 (powdered tea) and sencha 煎茶 (steeped tea). 1 Among wares produced for drinking tea or sake, Rengetsu's stood out for featuring her own poetry and distinctive calligraphy.She collected the clay for her pottery herself and formed her vessels by hand before inscribing them with her poems.The style of her calligraphy, which has been called wiry, threadlike, or free flowing 2 was partly a consequence of her technique of incising the clay body before it was fired in kilns in Kyoto, often repeating the same poem on different vessels.Existing research has discussed the intricacies of Rengetsu's calligraphy, pottery, and poetry.3 This article shifts the focus to the construction of her posthumous image.It argues that her artistic persona was as 13 According to Tessai's recollections, she had studied painting in the style of the Shijō school in Kyoto under Matsumura Keibun 松 村景文 (1779-1843).For a discussion of her painting style, see Sugimoto, Ōtagaki Rengetsu, pp.133-36.14 Yoshida, Kōto shoga jinmeiroku, p. 89.Translated in Berry, "Reinventing Oneself," p. 48. 15 The 1860 edition is no longer extant, only the 1889 reprint.For a detailed discussion, see Yamamoto, "Kakitani Bunkozō."Rengetsu's name appears in the bottom left section of the list; see Nakagawa, Kinsei kajin ryakkei.16 Transcription and translation of the flyer text by the author.
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Matcha is a main subject here (named in the keywords).
DOREEN MUELLER. (2026). How Ōtagaki Rengetsu Became History in Modern Japan. Journal of Asian Humanities at Kyushu University. https://doi.org/10.5109/7419033
DOI: 10.5109/7419033
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