Sunday, March 21, 2010

Mushroom Komuso



Alongside a senryu, or satiric poem, a matsutake (pine mushroom) komuso sprouts up. The derogatory "limerick" denounces the komuso during the late Edo period. Government spies and assassins infiltrated the ranks of anonymous, mendicant monks, creating a suspect reputation that is lampooned in this illustration. They're everywhere!