L’immagine del sakura nello Yoru no Nezame

Since the compilation of the Kokinwakashū (905), sakura had come to refer to short life, inconstant lovers, or ending love relationships in literature. Nevertheless, the Yoru no Nezame (Wakefulness at Night, 1060-1080) offers a different use of this literary device. The presence of a cherry tree here preludes to the fulfillment of a love reunion, as evident in two poems, quoted in the later anthologies Monogatari nihyakuban uta awase (thirteenth century) and Fūyōwakashū (1271), and in a picture within the Nezame monogatari emaki (twelfth century), a painted narrative handscroll based on the Yoru no Nezame’s lost final part and listed among the National Treasures of Japan. In this essay, I intend to address the meaning attributed to sakura in the Yoru no Nezame through the comparison of the narratives related to the above mentioned poems and picture.