Symposium: “Illuminating The Tale of Genji: New Art Historical Perspectives”

Tosa Mitsuoki (1617–1691). Portrait-Icon of Murasaki Shikibu. Edo period (1615–1868), 17th century. Hanging scroll; ink and color on silk; 35 5/8 x 20 3/4 in. (90.5 x 52.7 cm). Ishiyamadera Temple, Shiga Prefecture, Courtesy of Ishiyamadera Temple, photo 

April 13–14, 2019

Saturday, April 13, 2019
at Columbia University
614 Schermerhorn Hall 

9:30–10:00    Registration and Coffee

10:00–10:15  Welcome: Matthew McKelway

10:15–12:45  Panel 1:
                        Q & A following each presentation


                        Kōno Motoaki* (Seikadō Bunko Museum)
                        "Tawaraya Sōtatsu's 'Sekiya' and 'Miotsukushi' Screens from 
                        The Tale of Genji and Noh"

                        Kawada Masayuki* (Kubosō Memorial Museum of Arts, Izumi)
                        "An Approach to the Small-Scale Genji Pictures of Tosa Mitsunori"

                        Ryūsawa Aya* (Kinjō Gakuin University)
                        "Various Phases of Genji Pictures in Tale of Genji Scrolls of the
                        Seventeenth Century: The Medieval-Early Modern Transitional
                        Period as a 'Compendium of Genji Pictures'"

                        Haruo Shirane (Columbia University)
                        "Female Readers, Male Priests, and the Medieval Reception
                        of The Tale of Genji: From Genji monogatari kuyō zōshi to Noh
                        Performance"

*Presentations will be in Japanese.  English translations of these papers will be distributed.

2:00–5:00       Panel 2: Special focus on “Maboroshi no Genji emaki” (“Phantom Genji” handscrolls)

                        Melissa McCormick (Harvard University)
                        Introduction to the "Phantom Genji handscrolls"

                        Kojima Naoko* (Risshō University, Rikkyō University)
                        "Phantom Genji Scrolls and the History of Genji Commentaries:
                        A Look at mono no magire"

                        Sano Midori (Gakushūin University)
                        "The Moriyasu Genji Scrolls and the 'Age of Handscrolls'"

                        Takahashi Tōru* (Independent scholar)
                        "Genji Pictures and Kujō Yukiie's Genji Studies"

                        Estelle Bauer (Columbia University, INALCO)
                        "Taming the Flood of Text with the Help of Old Commentaries:
                        A Hypothesis about the process of making the Moriyasu Genji
                        monogatari emaki"

                        Masako Watanabe (Independent scholar)
                        "From Uta monogatari-e (illustrations of poem-tales) to
                        monogatari-e (illustrations of storytelling): Imagery of Female
                        Characters in the Illustrated Scrolls of the Tale of Genji
                        from the Spencer Colletion"

                        Panel discussion led by Melissa McCormick (Harvard University)

*Presentations will be in Japanese.  English translations of these papers will be distributed.

5:00 – 6:00     Reception

Sunday, April 14, 2019
At Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sacerdote Hall, Uris Center for Education (81st Street entrance)

9:30–10:00    Registration and Coffee

10:00–10:15  Welcome: John Carpenter

10:15–12:15  Panel 3:

                        Kinoshita Kyōko (Tama Art University)
                        "The transformation of Tale of Genji screens and the formation of
                        double-sided screens by the Edo Kano school painters"

                        Tomoko Sakomura (Swarthmore College)
                        "Genji and Calligraphy in the Milieu of Ono no Otsū (d. 1631)

                        Monika Bincsik (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)
                        "Sprinkled Pictures and Threaded Words: The Allure of Auspicious
                        Genji Imagery in Edo Japan"

                        Matthew McKelway (Columbia University)
                        "Presence and Absence in Genji Fan Paintings"

 12:15–12:30  Q & A

*English translations will be available for papers delivered in Japanese.