Konohana Sakuya Hime

Konohana-no-Sakuyabime: Yasuda Yukihiko's Vision of Japan's Cherry Blossom Goddess

Standing before this elegant hanging scroll at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), visitors encounter a quietly powerful image: a noblewoman seated on a rock, cradling a branch of cherry blossoms, with a smoke-wreathed Mount Fuji rising behind her. This is "Konohana-no-Sakuyabime" (1953), a masterwork by Yasuda Yukihiko (1884–1978), one of the most accomplished Nihonga (Japanese-style) painters of the modern era. The painting condenses centuries of Japanese myth, faith, and aesthetic refinement into a single, luminous composition, and today it ranks among the works officially recognized by the Japanese government for its cultural importance.

The Goddess at the Heart of Japanese Mythology

Konohana-no-Sakuyabime, whose name can be poetically rendered as "the Princess Who Makes the Trees Bloom," is one of the most beloved deities in the ancient Japanese chronicles known as the Kojiki (712 CE) and Nihon Shoki (720 CE). She is the daughter of the mountain god Ōyamatsumi, the wife of the heavenly grandson Ninigi-no-Mikoto, and an ancestor of Japan's imperial line. Worshippers across Japan revere her as the spirit of Mount Fuji and as the principal deity of the Asama shrines, with the head shrine at Fujisan Hongū Sengen Taisha in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Two qualities define her in popular faith: she is the goddess of cherry blossoms—her sacred tree—and the protectress of safe childbirth. According to legend, she gave birth in a fire-filled birthing hut to prove the divine parentage of her sons, walking through the flames unharmed. From this myth she also became known as a guardian against fire. Her image, therefore, brings together fragility and strength, beauty and resilience, in ways that have inspired Japanese artists for more than a thousand years.

The Painter: Yasuda Yukihiko, a Modern Master of Historical Painting

Yasuda Yukihiko was born in 1884 in the Nihonbashi district of Tokyo, where his family ran a long-established restaurant. He entered the studio of Yamato-e painter Kobori Tomone at the age of fourteen and quickly distinguished himself among the next generation of Japanese-style painters. After joining the revival of the Japan Art Institute (Nihon Bijutsuin) in 1914, he produced a steady stream of historical paintings characterized by precise scholarly research, refined linework, and an air of classical dignity.

Together with his contemporary Maeda Seison, Yukihiko is regarded as one of the two great pillars of modern Japanese historical painting. He served as a professor at the Tokyo School of Fine Arts (now Tokyo University of the Arts), participated in the reproduction of the fire-damaged Hōryū-ji Kondō wall paintings, and was honored with the Order of Cultural Merit in 1948. Several of his major works—including "Princess Nukata in the Spring of Asuka" and "Dawn at Mount Fuji"—were later commemorated on Japanese postage stamps, a measure of how deeply his vision became part of the nation's visual memory.

A Closer Look at the Painting

"Konohana-no-Sakuyabime" was created in 1953 and exhibited that September at the 38th Inten, the autumn exhibition of the reorganized Japan Art Institute, where it appeared under the slightly different title "Konohana-Sakuyabime." It is a tall hanging scroll, painted in mineral pigments on paper, measuring 174.0 by 74.8 centimeters.

The composition is a study in restrained refinement. The goddess is depicted as a lady of high rank, seated calmly on a stone with the snow-capped, gently smoking Mount Fuji behind her—an unmistakable reference to the volcano she is believed to enshrine. In her left hand she holds a branch of cherry blossoms, with another spray at her feet. Perched on the cherry branch is a small bird, identified as a wagtail (sekirei). According to the Nihon Shoki, the wagtail was the very bird that taught the creator deities Izanagi and Izanami the secret of marital union; its presence here resonates beautifully with Konohana-no-Sakuyabime's role as a protectress of childbirth.

Every element—the cherry blossoms as her sacred tree, the wagtail of the creation myth, the smoking sacred mountain—was chosen with the painter's characteristic depth of erudition. The brushwork shows Yukihiko's signature style: lines drawn with even pressure, free of dramatic thickening or thinning, and colors layered with quiet care. The result is an image of luminous calm and aristocratic poise. In the lower right of the painting Yukihiko placed his red square seal reading "An," and the storage box bears an inscription in his own hand.

Why This Painting Matters

On May 14, 2019, "Konohana-no-Sakuyabime" was officially recognized as a Registered Work of Art (Tōroku Bijutsuhin) under Japan's "Act on the Promotion of the Public Display of Works of Art at Art Museums," a system established in 1998. Under this framework, privately owned masterpieces of outstanding cultural value are entrusted to public museums under long-term display contracts, ensuring that the public can encounter them with confidence and continuity.

Registration recognizes works that hold importance "from the perspective of world culture." For Yasuda Yukihiko's "Konohana-no-Sakuyabime," that significance lies in three dimensions at once: as a culminating expression of his mature historical painting style, as a sophisticated literary and religious meditation on Japanese mythology, and as a beautifully preserved example of mid-twentieth-century Nihonga at its most refined. Scholars regard it as one of the artist's representative works.

Where to See It: The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo

The painting is held at The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo (MOMAT), located in Kitanomaru Park, immediately north of the Imperial Palace. Founded in 1952, MOMAT is Japan's oldest national art museum and stewards a collection of over 13,000 modern Japanese works, including more than a dozen Important Cultural Properties. Its standing exhibition, the "MOMAT Collection," draws roughly 200 works at a time from across the holdings, allowing visitors to trace more than a century of Japanese art history under one roof.

Because Nihonga works on paper are sensitive to light, "Konohana-no-Sakuyabime" is not on permanent view; it appears on a rotating schedule alongside other Nihonga masterpieces. Travelers planning a visit are encouraged to check the museum's website or current MOMAT Collection schedule for confirmation of which works are on display during their stay.

Around the Museum: A Walk Through Cultural Tokyo

A visit to MOMAT pairs naturally with a leisurely exploration of the historic heart of Tokyo. The museum sits within Kitanomaru Park, once part of the Edo Castle grounds and today a peaceful expanse of trees, ponds, and quiet pathways. In spring, the moats around the park—particularly Chidorigafuchi—are lined with cherry trees that draw visitors from around the world, a remarkably fitting setting for a painting devoted to the cherry blossom goddess.

Within easy walking distance, you will find the East Gardens of the Imperial Palace, the Nippon Budokan martial-arts hall, the Science Museum, and the Yasukuni Shrine area. The bookshop district of Jimbōchō, famous among lovers of antique and second-hand books, is just a short stroll to the west. Visitors with more time may continue on to Tokyo Station's stately red-brick architecture or the antique-art galleries of Kyōbashi, both within easy reach by foot or subway.