わが庵は

都のたつみ

しかぞ住む

世をうぢ山と

人はいふなり

きせんほうし

わがいおは

みやこのたつみ

しかぞすむ

よをうぢやまと

ひとはいうなり

The Monk Kisen

My hermitage lies

South-east of the capital,

The only place for me to live.

This world, the Mount of Sorrow

People have come to call it.

Kisen Hoshi (ninth century), a Buddhist monk. Although he is one of the Six Poet Laureates, there are few biographical records on his life. He is said to have lived on Mt. Uji, Ujiyama or Mount of Sorrow, and is regarded as the author of the Kisen Shiki, a book on poetics. Mt. Uji lies south-east of Kyoto, at that time the capital. The Byodoin temple was built there, and its present name is Mount Kisen (宇治山).

作者略伝と語釈

On the above drawing we see travellers and farmers, and in the distance two hunters with matchlocks taking a shot at the deer on the opposite hill. Hokusai’s own interpretation of ‘mount of sorrow’? Or was the word shika (in English ‘only’ or ‘deer’) in the poem enough to add a representation of the shika or sika deer into the drawing?

Uji and ushi (hateful, gloomy) are homophones.

Hokusai

Mt. Uji and the Uji River