尾形月耕　「日本花図絵　平忠度」　着色木版画　明治期

　　
The poem in the white rectangle at the top right of this print reads, "At the end of the day, / making the shade of this flowering tree / my lodging, / the blossoming tree is / the master tonight." A historical account tells us that when the poet Taira no Tadanori (1144–1184), the seated samurai shown here, was beheaded in a battle between the rival clans of the Taira and the Minamoto during the twelfth century, this waka poem was attached to his quiver. Ogata Gekkō depicts Tadanori holding a brush and paper, about to write these lines—perhaps anticipating his destiny. The falling cherry blossom petals call to mind the Second World War, in which Japanese kamikaze pilots used such petals as a metaphor for their courageous, but suicidal, missions.