Paper short abstract:

Edo's kyōka networks were asserted and visualised through pennames and emblems that established group identities. While luxurious surimono series or kyōka anthologies might be read as a conspicuous form of competition, they can also embody collaboration between poetry groups.

Paper long abstract:

The convivial world of kyōka poetry was defined by competition as well as collaboration. A poet's affiliation to their poetry master and circle might be expressed through their penname, participation in competitions and placing in resultant kyōka anthologies, or in the sharing of the select space of a surimono print. Under this new identity, everyday status hierarchies could be disrupted (even if they were not always entirely put aside). Meanwhile, verses were judged, points awarded, rivalries set and peace brokered.

The sheer luxury of kyōka anthologies and extensive series of surimono prints from the Bunka and Bunsei eras (1804-30) can also be read as an assertion of a group's significance. These were conspicuously refined productions that demanded considerable resources to realise. Series of 24 or 36 surimono prints were not unknown, and poetry circles engaged prominent artists and printmakers who ornamented commissions with blind-embossing and metallic pigments to complement their cultivated verse.

Whether as title cartouches, seals or background motifs, group emblems are often deployed among surimono and kyōka anthologies. However, these too can reveal collaboration between masters and groups. In the dazzlingly extravagant surimono series, Framed paintings of women for the Katsushika Circle (葛飾連額面婦人合) designed by Yashima Gakutei around 1822, the emblem of the Katsushika Circle is not the only mark presented. Focusing on this series and contemporary kyōka anthologies, this paper explores the visualisation of contest and collaboration in the kyōka world.