Farmer Returning Home in Autumn

The print file prints up to 4.1 x 11.3 in at 300 ppi — fine for smaller trims or inset artwork, but too small to fill a 6 x 9 in cover at 300 ppi. Taller than a 6 x 9 cover: crop about 45% of the height.

Here, Yosa Buson’s farmer playfully chastises a crow who has come to dine on his grain while his water buffalo earnestly negotiates a swift stream. Raised in what is now Osaka, Buson went to Edo (now Tokyo) to study poetry composition. He later traveled around northeastern Japan, following in the footsteps of poet Matsuo Bashō (松尾芭蕉) (1644–1694), and then taught poetry in Kyoto. He painted professionally, a skill he learned by using wood-block–printed Chinese painting manuals.