2016 – Year of the Monkey

I'm not sure of the painter, but possibly Muromachi Period

Wishing all the readers of Ichijoji a Happy New Year for 2016.

As it is the Year of the Monkey (which starts today in Japan), if you want a little background on monkeys, I wrote about Musashi's use of monkey symbolism previously (and also at Musashi's Monkey Design 1 and Musashi's Monkey Design 2).

I will be writing a little more about monkeys in Japanese painting shortly, but for now, a little help for those who fancy doing a little artwork themselves (Courtesy of the British Museum)…



The finished version might look something like this, by Ito Jakuchu: