Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 / 5 Next image

Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅

Tortoise Carrying the Isle of the Immortals on His Back

Maker

Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅 (1765-1849
b. in Akita, worked in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan)

Title

Tortoise Carrying the Isle of the Immortals on His Back

Period

Edo Period

Year

mid-1820s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

ink

Supports

Geography

Origin: Japan

Dimensions

Shikishiban: 21.9 x 18.3 cm (8 5/8 x 7 3/16 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Inscription Text/Poem: 三津の朝はかぬ畳のちりひちもつもりて見ゆる蓬莱の山　
- 堀川歌成

老すしなぬ薬の屠蘇のその酒を蓬莱山のうめにたくへつ　
- 梅園

蓬莱を背に負ふ亀はかすみから鶴に乗くる客やまつらん　
- 鶴廼屋

Signature: 孔寅 Kōin

Seals: Designer's seal: 孔寅 Kōin (Hirotora)
Block carver's seal: 谷清好 Tani Seikō

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Gift of George Pierce Metcalf

Object Number

56.039.55

Type

Exhibition History

Deep Cuts
Stories from Japanese Surimono Prints
May 23, 2026 – Oct 04, 2026
Prints for the Japanese New Year
Dec 17, 2010 – Apr 17, 2011

Label copy

The Japanese have a saying that “the crane lives for a thousand years and the tortoise for ten thousand.” The long-tailed turtle, the cranes perched on top of the Isle of the Immortals (Horai), and the isle itself all convey the conventional New Year’s wish for long life. Poems inscribed on the print and composed by Horikawa Utanari, Ki no Tsukunari (active 1820s) and Tsurunoya Osamaru (ca. 1751-ca. 1839) also contain allusions to the New Year.

Surimono from Osaka and Edo
The Pumpelly Album
May 23, 2008 – Oct 05, 2008
Marking the Occasion
The Japanese Tradition of Surimono
Feb 03, 2006 – May 28, 2006

Label copy

The Japanese have a saying that “the crane lives for a thousand years and the tortoise for ten thousand.” The long-tailed turtle, the cranes perched on top of the Isle of the Immortals (Horai), and the isle itself all convey the conventional New Year’s wish for long life.

Marking the Occasion
Surimono from Edo and Osaka
Sep 15, 2000 – Dec 03, 2000

Label copy

The Japanese have a saying that “the crane lives for a thousand years and the tortoise for ten thousand.” The turtle, the cranes perched on top of the Isle of the Immortals (Horai), and the isle itself all convey the conventional New Year wish for long life.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Nagayama Kōin 長山孔寅 (1765-1849
b. in Akita, worked in Kyoto and Osaka, Japan)
Tani Seikō 谷清好 (1822 - 1831, Edo and Osaka, Japan), block carver
Tortoise Carrying the Isle of the Immortals on His Back, mid-1820s
Woodblock print (surimono)
Shikishiban: 21.9 x 18.3 cm (8 5/8 x 7 3/16 inches)
Gift of George Pierce Metcalf 56.039.55

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.