024 : Ito Jakuchu - Fishes (from the series Colorful Realm of Living Beings)
The Visual Language: Composition & Detail
Ito Jakuchu's Fishes (often referred to as Shogyo-zu featuring an octopus, and Gungyo-zu featuring a sea bream) are two mesmerizing hanging scrolls from his renowned 30-scroll masterpiece, Colorful Realm of Living Beings (Doshoku sai-e).
When viewed side by side, these two paintings share an almost identical compositional flow: a diverse array of marine life is depicted strictly from the side, swimming diagonally toward the lower left.
This deliberate alignment creates a dynamic, continuous underwater narrative. Jakuchu meticulously captured the realistic textures of scales and tentacles, yet he arranged them with boundless imagination and playfulness.
For instance, in one scroll, a playful baby octopus clings to its parent's tentacle, while in the other, a white squid's severed tentacles appear to swim gracefully over a stingray.
Through this highly detailed yet whimsical composition, Jakuchu effectively created an enchanting "aquarium on silk" centuries before modern aquariums existed.
The Cultural Soul: Symbolism & Philosophy
While these paintings may appear to be purely natural history illustrations, they are profoundly religious works deeply rooted in Zen Buddhism.
Jakuchu created the Colorful Realm of Living Beings series to be donated to Shokoku-ji Temple in Kyoto, where they were hung alongside a triptych of the Buddha during important Buddhist rituals such as the Kannon Senpo (a repentance ritual dedicated to Kannon).
His obsessive dedication to depicting every creature—from the majestic sea bream to the humblest octopus—stems from the Buddhist philosophy that all living beings (all sentient beings) possess a Buddha nature and hold equal spiritual value.
The humorous, affectionate, and vibrant depiction of the underwater world reflects Jakuchu's unwavering devotion to the principle of non-killing (ahimsa) and his deep, compassionate gaze toward the sanctity of all life forms.
A Scientific Marvel: Ura-zaishiki and Prussian Blue
Beyond his philosophical depth, Jakuchu was a relentless innovator in pictorial techniques. To achieve the breathtaking luminosity of the underwater scenes, he employed a traditional technique called ura-zaishiki (reverse coloring).
He applied pigments to the back of the translucent silk canvas to create the overall background, while painting the intricate details of the fishes with pigments and dyes on the front. Furthermore, recent cutting-edge optical investigations have revealed a surprising global connection.
The striking blue color of the rurihata (yellowfin hind fish) swimming in the lower left of the sea bream scroll was painted using Prussian blue—a synthetic pigment invented in Germany in the early 18th century.
Its use in this painting is recognized as one of the earliest examples of Prussian blue in Japanese art.
This proves that the eccentric, solitary painter in Kyoto was not only a master of tradition but also an incredibly curious pioneer eager to adopt the latest global technologies to perfect his vision.
Ito Jakuchu (1716–1800)
A legendary master of the Edo period renowned for his eccentric, ultra-realistic, and brilliantly colored depictions of the natural world.
Best known for his mesmerizing paintings of roosters and the monumental series Doshaku Saie (Colorful Realm of Living Beings), his meticulous technique and obsessive attention to detail transcended traditional styles, creating a vivid, imaginative realism that continues to captivate modern audiences worldwide.
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