Tawaraya Sōtatsu

Lore & Background

Tawaraya Sōtatsu was a Japanese furniture designer and painter of the Rinpa school, which he co-founded with Hon'ami Kōetsu. He is best known for decorating calligraphic works by Kōetsu and for his spectacular folding screens, including the National Treasures *Wind God and Thunder God* and paintings from *The Tale of Genji*. He popularized the tarashikomi technique, where a second layer of paint is applied before the first dries. Sōtatsu’s birth date is unknown, likely around 1570, and his birthplace is also uncertain; painter Tani Bunchō claimed he was from Noto and studied under Sumiyoshi Jokei in Kyoto. His family name may have been Nonomura. In 1602, he repaired 12th-century sutra scrolls at Itsukushima shrine, his earliest attributed work. He later collaborated with Kōetsu on the Sagabon project, designing book covers and paper. Sōtatsu married a cousin of Kōetsu and opened a shop in Kyoto named Tawaraya, selling fans, lantern paper, screens, dolls, and kimono patterns, and taking interior decoration commissions. Around 1620, their collaboration ended as Sōtatsu focused on painting. He decorated Yōgen-in temple in 1621 and received the title hokkyō in 1630. His death likely occurred around 1640. His notable works include *Waves at Matsushima*, the poem scroll with cranes, *Poem Scroll with Deer*, and *Dragons and Clouds*. His direct students included Tawaraya Sōsetsu and Kitawaga Sōsetsu.

Reader's Guide

Tawaraya Sōtatsu was a Japanese furniture designer and painter of the Rinpa school, which he is credited with co-founding alongside Hon'ami Kōetsu. Rinpa was not a formal school but a loose group of artists directly influenced by the pair, including later figures such as Ogata Kōrin, Ogata Kenzan, and Sakai Hōitsu. Sōtatsu is best known for decorating calligraphic works by Kōetsu and for his spectacular byōbu folding screens, including the National Treasures *Wind God and Thunder God* and his painting of the *Sekiya* and *Miotsukushi* chapters from *The Tale of Genji*. He popularized the *tarashikomi* technique, where a second layer of paint is applied before the first layer dries. Though not widely recognized during his lifetime, he is now the second-most recognized Japanese painter by number of inclusions in the National Treasures of Japan list. His earliest attributed paintings come from a 1602 commission to repair 12th-century sutra scrolls at Itsukushima shrine. The first confirmed collaboration with Kōetsu was on the Sagabon project around 1606, for which Sōtatsu designed covers and paper. He opened a shop in Kyoto called Tawaraya, selling decorated fans, screens, and kimono patterns, and married a cousin of Kōetsu. Their collaboration ended around 1620, after which Sōtatsu focused more on painting. In 1621 he decorated temple interiors at Yōgen-in, and in 1630 he received the title *hokkyō*, the third highest rank for Buddhist artists. His masterwork *Waves at Matsushima* was painted in the 1620s. The collaborative handscroll *Anthology with Cranes* features poems from the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry and is praised for its cutting-edge originality. Another collaboration, *Poem Scroll with Deer*, was split after World War II, with its largest section at the Seattle Art Museum. *Wind God and Thunder God*, a pair of two-fold screens on gold-foiled paper, belongs to Kennin-ji temple and was later replicated by Kōrin and Hōitsu. *Dragons and Clouds*, in the Freer Gallery of Art, is a fine example of *tarashikomi*. Sōtatsu likely died around 1640; his most successful direct students were Tawaraya Sōsetsu and Kitagawa Sōsetsu.

Did You Know?

• He married a cousin of Hon'ami Kōetsu and opened a shop in Kyoto named Tawaraya, selling decorated objects such as fans, lantern paper, screens, dolls, and kimono patterns.