Artists

Tanaka Hakuin

Tanaka Hakuin (田中柏陰) was a Japanese painter. He is not to be confused with the Zen master Hakuin Ekaku.

Published on: Mar 9, 2025

Kakemono by Tanaka Hakuin: Japanese eggplant, painted in ink and color. — Japanese Eggplant – kakemono by Tanaka Hakuin (田中柏陰) (detail)

In a nutshell

Tanaka Hakuin (田中柏陰) was a Japanese painter whose surviving works are hanging scrolls with plant and nature motifs. The artist name 柏陰 is read Hakuin and should not be confused with the Zen master Hakuin Ekaku (白隠慧鶴, 1686–1769), whose name is written with different characters. Hakuin's motifs come from the field of plant painting, in which a single object occupies the pictorial field without landscape elements.

Tanaka Hakuin (田中柏陰): Plant Painting on the Hanging Scroll

Tanaka Hakuin (田中柏陰) was a Japanese painter. His surviving works are hanging scrolls with plant and nature motifs, in which a single object occupies the picture field.

Not to Be Confused with Hakuin Ekaku

The name regularly leads people astray. Hakuin Ekaku (白隠慧鶴, 1686–1769) was the most important Zen master of the Edo period and world-famous as a painter of Zenga; he has nothing to do with Tanaka Hakuin. The characters differ clearly: 柏陰 as opposed to 白隠. Anyone examining a signature should be aware of this difference, since both names appear identical in transliteration.

The Eggplant as a Pictorial Motif

The Japanese eggplant is a motif of special standing. It is one of the three lucky things of the first dream of the New Year – according to the saying, it brings good fortune to dream of Fuji, of a hawk, or of an eggplant on New Year's night. This connection explains why such an everyday object is suitable as a New Year's picture.

Pictorially, the task is appealing: the smooth, deep violet skin calls for an even field of color, while the calyx with its points and the stem require entirely different treatment. The appeal of such pictures lies in this concentration – one object, no accessories, much empty ground. They are hung in the tokonoma during the first weeks of the year.