Sudden Shower at the Mimeguri Shrine

People rush to seek shelter from a sudden shower beneath a gateway at the Inari Shrine in Mimeguri, an area in Edo (present-day Tokyo). One of Torii Kiyonaga’s most famous compositions, this triptych reveals his wit through the inclusion of a vaporous apparition in the clouds above: a group of horned gods dressed as fashionable townsmen lounging and smoking. Traditionally, the Japanese have represented the Thunder God as a muscular demon in a leopard-skin loincloth, who creates thunder by pounding cosmic drums. Here, however, Kiyonaga parodies popular poetry gatherings among Edo sophisticates by showing two demons contemplating a verse written on a long poem slip (tanzaku). The scene is undoubtedly a reference to a poem written by Takarai Kikaku (1661–1707) and dedicated to Mimeguri Inari Shrine to pray for rain.