Why “Roosters” by Itō Jakuchū Feels So Alive

Added: 2026-05-12

[00:00:04]At first glance, this painting might look chaotic.

[00:00:09]13 chickens crowded into a single frame.

[00:00:13]But, if you look closer, you will notice it's almost impossible to tell where one bird ends and the next one begins.

[00:00:23]As a matter of fact, this was completely intentional.

[00:00:28]This is rooster's.

[00:00:31]Gunkei-zu by Ito Jakuchu, [music] created in the 18th century.

[00:00:38]It belongs to his iconic series Colorful Realm of Living Beings.

[00:00:45]But, why did he cram so much life into such [music] a tight space?

[00:00:51]Today, we will uncover the obsession and the secret techniques behind this masterpiece.

[00:01:17]Why did Jakuchu make the scene so crowded?

[00:01:20]It feels [music] tight, almost uncomfortable.

[00:01:25]But, in this specific [music] work, he chose this density to capture a particular kind of energy, the raw, overwhelming power [music] of life.

[00:01:37]Jakuchu didn't rely on imagination.

[00:01:40]He kept dozens of chickens in his own garden >> [music] >> and observed them day after day.

[00:01:48]He studied how their bodies overlapped, how their necks twisted, and how their feathers seemed to blend [music] together in motion.

[00:01:59]By removing the background [music] and blurring the boundaries between each bird, he's [music] not just showing us a farm scene.

[00:02:09]He's making us [music] feel the heat, the noise, and the vibrating power of a living flock.

[00:02:22]Even from [music] a distance, the painting can feel overwhelming with movement.

[00:02:28]But up [music] close, the level of detail is remarkable.

[00:02:33]How did Jakuchu keep [music] these colors so vivid and so diverse for over 250 years?

[00:02:42]The secret lies in the physical materials themselves. [music] Unlike modern synthetic paints, Jakuchu worked with mineral pigments >> [music] >> and traditional materials that have survived for centuries.

[00:02:58]For the bright [music] white feathers, he used gofun, a pigment made from crushed seashell powder.

[00:03:07]It's a dense, heavy white [music] known for its incredible resistance to yellowing over time.

[00:03:14]For the [music] yellows of the beaks and legs, he layered ochre over the [music] same white base to give them a solid, lifelike presence.

[00:03:25]The earthy browns of [music] the feathers were created by mixing ochre with iron oxide, a natural red earth pigment [music] known as taisha.

[00:03:38]One of the most striking elements, however, is the vibrant red of the combs.

[00:03:44]For this, Jakuchu used cinnabar or shinsha, a rare and precious mineral [music] pigment known for its brilliant intensity.

[00:03:56]He applied it [music] thickly giving the combs a rich, almost fleshy [music] texture that makes the birds feel intensely alive.

[00:04:08]But color is only half of the story.

[00:04:12]To give these birds their sharp edges and deep shadows, he relied on sumi ink.

[00:04:20]Most of the painting is built up with these dense [music] pigments, but the ink provides the skeletal structure.

[00:04:29]The tiny [music] lines that separate 13 different birds in the single crowded space.

[00:04:41]While the surface [music] is dense with pigment, Jakuchu's true mastery was hidden on the other side of the silk.

[00:04:49]This is a [music] technique known as urazaishiki or back painting.

[00:04:56]Most painters focused mainly [music] on the front surface, but Jakuchu treated the silk like a three-dimensional filter.

[00:05:06]>> [music] >> He realized that if he only painted on the front, the roosters would look flat and [music] lifeless.

[00:05:16]To give them life, he applied colors [music] to the back of the silk.

[00:05:22]Sometimes he applied a different shade on the back to modify the color on the front, creating a subtle blended hue that is impossible [music] to achieve with a single layer.

[00:05:36]But here is where his [music] mastery truly shines. His ability to create variation through light.

[00:05:46]In some areas, he piled on thick layers of pigment [music] from the front.

[00:05:52]But in others, he chose not to paint on the front at all.

[00:05:57]Instead, [music] he let the color from the back painting glow through the translucent silk.

[00:06:04]By choosing where to apply [music] heavy paint and where to let the colors breathe from behind, he created an incredible variety of textures. [music] Some feathers look solid and heavy, while others [music] seem soft, light, and almost vibrating.

[00:06:24]This wasn't just painting. It was almost like optical engineering.

[00:06:31]He had to carefully [music] consider how the light would pass through the silk and the pigments [music] to create a sense of warmth and volume.

[00:06:42]When you see that inner glow, you aren't just [music] looking at a rooster.

[00:06:47]You are feeling the energy of life [music] that Jakuchu was trying to capture.

[00:06:55]>> [music] >> Why go to such lengths for a group of chickens?

[00:07:02]For Jakuchu, [music] this wasn't just art. It was a spiritual mission.

[00:07:08]As a devout Zen Buddhist, [music] he believed that every living thing held a Buddha nature.

[00:07:16]It's the idea that deep [music] inside every creature, no matter how small or common, there is a core of enlightenment [music] and sacred value.

[00:07:29]In Edo Japan, chickens were seen [music] as symbols of vigilance and renewal.

[00:07:36]But Jakuchu saw [music] something deeper.

[00:07:40]He treated these roosters with the same respect other artists give to gods or kings.

[00:07:49]By painting this crowded, tangled flock with [music] such incredible care, he was showing us that life doesn't [music] have to be neat to be sacred.

[00:08:01]The divine is right there >> [music] >> in the middle of the beautiful chaos.

[00:08:07]>> [music] >> This painting is part of a legendary set of 30 scrolls that Jakchu [music] spent nearly 10 years creating as a votive offering to a temple.

[00:08:24]He once said he was waiting for a thousand years for someone to truly see what he [music] saw.

[00:08:32]He wasn't interested in the fame of his own time.

[00:08:36]He was painting [music] for the future, for us.

[00:08:41]Today, [music] those roosters still feel like they're about to burst off the silk. Their eyes are still sharp and their energy [music] hasn't faded after two and a half centuries.

[00:08:55]Jakchu's [music] work reminds us that if we look closely enough, the things that seem chaotic at first may contain a deeper kind of harmony.

[00:09:11]>> [music]