Mitate

Mitate (見立て) is a figure of speech and a method of representation in Japanese literature and art in which a thing is treated as if it were another, by drawing on resemblance, association, or conventional meaning. The term literally means “to view as” or “to establish as,” signaling a shift in perception that creates additional meanings without explicit naming.

In classical poetry, mitate is used to link objects, seasons, and emotions through substitution of one thing for another. A poem might present a familiar subject in a way that evokes an associated image or mood by treating it as something it resembles. This technique invites readers to recognize the implied substitution and to read the layered symbolism into the verse.

Mitate is also central to mitate-e, a visual practice in which paintings or prints present one subject as another through composition or captioning, encouraging viewers to reinterpret the image and discover secondary meanings. The effect can be humorous, elegant, or contemplative, depending on cultural knowledge and context.

Relation to other forms: mitate differs from direct metaphor or explicit simile by foregrounding a perceptual reclassification—seeing one thing as another rather than simply stating a comparison. It overlaps with pun-based devices such as kakekotoba, but remains a broader approach in which substitution operates at the level of interpretation and sense-making rather than solely at the level of wordplay.

Historically, mitate has been used across Heian and Edo-period literature and visual arts and continues to be a topic in modern criticism for its role in shaping layered meanings, seasonal associations, and cultural allusions.