Snow, Moon and Flowers (雪月花, setsu-getsu-ka or setsu gekka), a topic in art and design borrowed from old China, was quite popular in the late Edo period.
This threefold theme (in Japan, flowers mean always cherry blossoms) is held together in several ways. Most obviously it refers to the seasons of the year: snow = winter, moon = autumn and flowers = spring. But one could also think it as representations of three whites: blue-white = winter, yellow-white = autumn and pink-white = spring.
Ukiyo-e artists liked to sell prints in series, sometimes even scrolls were painted to be hanged together. Artists liked to combine it with three women, three well known landscapes (moon always with reflecting water) etc.
"Snow, moon and flowers" appear also as decoration on boxes, backside of traditional mirrors etc.
Prints by Shiba Kōkan, signed as Suzuki Harushige (1747–1818)
Prints by Hokusai Katsushika (1760–1849)
Prints by Utagawa Kunisada (1786–1865)
Prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1797–1861)
Prints by Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858)
Nippon Daihyakka Zensho - Encyclopedia Nipponica 2001 (E-Book version). Shogakukan, Tokyo 1996.
In the Unbreakable Machine-Doll light novel, the Setsugetsuka Trilogy is composed of three female automaton sisters; Irori, the eldest sister, representing the snow, Yaya, the second eldest sister, representing the moon, and Komurasaki, the youngest sister, representing the flower.
In the Unbreakable Machine-Doll manga, the Setsugetsuka Trilogy is composed of three female automaton sisters; Irori, the eldest sister, representing the snow, Yaya, the second eldest sister, representing the moon, and Komurasaki, the youngest sister, representing the flower.
Radio, animation, and television
In the Unbreakable Machine-Doll anime, the Setsugetsuka Trilogy is composed of three female automaton sisters; Irori, the eldest sister, representing the snow, Yaya, the second eldest sister, representing the moon, and Komurasaki, the youngest sister, representing the flower.
