Shibata Zeshin was a lacquer artist and painter from the late Edo period into the middle of the Meiji era. He created many paintings of nature depicting the four seasons. Here, his dynamic artwork of cherry blossoms and hydrangeas are bursting with life within their circular frames.



These paintings were the basis for a number of vibrantly colored textiles and even served as ceiling decorations for the Meiji Palace while it served as the imperial palace, in a room called “Chikusa-no-Ma.” The Meiji Palace was destroyed during WWII, but the sketches for the ceiling decorations remain.



Of the 112 Meiji Palace / Chikusa-no-Ma ceiling painting sketches in the Tokyo University of the Arts collection, this coloring book contains 30 familiar plants that represent the seasons, arranged in order of when they bloom. The left page contains the original sketch and details about the plant, so you can enjoy Zeshin’s delicate brushwork and choice of colors. The right page features the same artwork in coloring-book form.



Cherry blossoms and yamabuki flowers are in season in the spring, water lilies and sunflowers in the summer, chrysanthemums and bush clover in autumn, and butterbur and plum in the winter. This coloring book will help you to enjoy all the seasons while you color in its pages.