2013, the year of the snake

*1

I couldn't help smiling when I saw this Wassily Kandinsky painting titled "the Whole” at the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT) during the New Year’s holiday. It was hung on a wall in a prominent place. As the painting features several snakes or snake-like lines, the museum must have thought that it was suitable to be on display for 2013, the year of the snake. The painting was really lovely and looked like a kind of mandala.

*2

At another museum in Ueno, I saw this Noh costume called Surihaku (摺箔) Garment from the 18th century. It looked quite modern with its pattern of small regular triangles. Triangle patterns usually represent the scales of snakes or dragons in this country. The garment was used to play the role of the great snake in the Noh play Dōjōji (道成寺）. You can see Tamasaburo's dance here in which he wears a similar costume representing "Orochi: Great Serpent". It is not Noh but Kabuki, though. 

Speaking of snakes, my old house in my hometown was inhabited by a snake when I was a small kid. Though my parents, sister, and I had never seen it with our own eyes, we knew that it definitely resided in the ceiling under the roof. We would often hear the noise it made when it slithered at night, shrrr, shrrr, from above. My father would say that the snake was much better than rats in the ceiling. He was so right. The invisible creature was totally harmless, behaved itself, and seemed to have driven out all the long-tailed former inhabitants in the ceiling. Every now and then during summer and autumn we would find its skin cast off somewhere in the garden, sometimes in the grass and sometimes around the pomegranate tree. Light, dried, fragile, and almost sheer with a swirling pattern on it, the odd thing looked really magical.  

*3

Near the museum in the garden of Kan'eiji-temple, winter peonies were at their best. The weather was fine during the first three days of the year but we had the first snow yesterday. The tiny straw huts over the peonies must have helped a lot to protect the floweres from the snow.

Just like our new Prime Minister, Mr. Abe, mentioned at his first press conference, it is said that the year of the snake symbolizes prosperous business. Best wishes to you all for 2013! 

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*1 The Whole , Wassily Kandinsky, 1940.  National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (photography permitted) , 

*2 *3 (photography permitted)  *3 Plaque(還城楽図額), Tokyo National Museum

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