Ise Monogatari is a tale of love revolving around the Heian period poet Ariwara no Narihira. It has been depicted many times since antiquity in all kinds of formats, including fan paintings, shikishi (almost square, heavy paper), and screens. In this work, morning glories rendered in rich blue, leaves of blue-green, and a bamboo trellis painted in gold act as a background for the shikishi scattered over the surface, which illustrate each chapter of the story. On the right screen are 25 shikishi and on the left are 24, making a total of 49 paintings. Rendered in fine, delicate brushwork and fresh, vivid colors, they are judged to be earlier than such renditions of the theme as the woodblock illustrations in the Saga version books, and are extremely valuable.