Eight Bridges

Over time the bridge, which became stylised into a zig-zag shape, was incorporated into a large range of art forms: kimonos, writing boxes, screens and porcelain, ukiyo-e prints and garden landscapes.

The Eight Bridges originates from The Tales of Ise – a collection of episodes, sometimes attributed to the poet Ariwara no Narihara (825–880), about the life of an unidentified man in the capital and his journey into Eastern Japan.

Irises were blooming beautifully in the marsh, and someone suggested they compose a poem on the theme of Travel, with the first syllable of each line to spell the word for iris, ka.ki.tsu.ba.ta.

[7] The Tale of Heike directly references the Eight Bridges' origin by mentioning the poet Narihara (to whom The Tales of Ise is attributed) and by also using the simile of the spider's legs: ... on he went into the land of Mikawa / to Yatsuhashi where once Narihara sang / of one dear to him as a long-worn robe / his wretched heart as full of tangled thoughts / as those eight tangled spider's legs ...[8]3.

[11]The Eight Bridges design was gradually incorporated into a large range of Japanese arts and craft, as the literary allusion became a specific motif.

[12] A writing box, also made by Ogata Kōrin in the 18th century, depicts the Eight Bridges running through golden reeds with mother-of-pearl irises and is designated a Japanese national treasure.

[15] Initially this literary motif as applied to arts and crafts was confined to goods used by the elite of Japanese society, but during the Edo period it became known and used by ordinary people.