Page 449 - Edo: Art in Japan, 1615–1868

252
Suzuki Harunobu (c. 1724-1770)
Shimizu, from Seven Komachi,
Up-to-Date Style

c. 1767
Color woodblock print
l
Approx. 31 x 14 (12 '/4 x 5 /i)
Tokyo National Museum

• A courtesan, on the right, and
her teenage apprentice pause for a
moment to look back at the cherry
448
blossoms. The courtesan's outer robe,
with the sash tied in front in the
manner of her profession, is decorated
with a scene of a plank bridge amid
a marsh of iris blooms. The scene
evokes the classical literary associa-
tions of the eight-fold bridge chapter
from the tenth-century classic Tales
o/Ise (see also cat. 163).
The print series draws inspiration from
another classical source, the seven
legendary accounts of Ono no Komachi
(active c. 850), the court lady and
poet of the early Heian period. During
medieval times a cycle of seven no
plays based on the legend of the
famous poet presented Komachi as a
poet of enticing beauty but melancholy
mood and amorous dispassion. The
story alluded to in this print is that
of Shimizu (or Kiyomizu) Komachi,
which recounts the poet's visit to
Kiyomizudera, a temple in Kyoto, and
her chance encounter with her fellow
poet Prelate Henjó.
The inscribed verse appears to be a
burlesque of a poem thought to be
included in the now-lost medieval no
play Shimizu Komachi. The common
version, alluding to the waterfall used
for ritual ablutions at the temple, has
the poet reflecting on growing old:
"How is it that/my body has aged/all
to no avail,/while the view of the
waterfall/remains forever unchanged?"
The artist has playfully altered a few
252
words to change the poem's meaning
to "How is it that my sash has been
loosened, all to no avail...."The impli-
cation is that the courtesan's elaborate
obi has loosened its knots for many a
client, but all to no avail. JTC