28 Utagawa Kuniyoshi 1798 – 1861 Dewa Province: Tamatsukuri

publisher: Maruya Jinpachi (Enjudo)

This print from the renowned series The Sixty and More Provinces of Great Japan depicts a beauty associated with the province of Dewa, specifically the Tamatsukuri area, famous for its hot springs.
The elegant woman, dressed in a pilgrimage kimono adorned with cranes and fans, stands in a field with reeds and a skull before her. In the upper-left inset appears a scene of the imperial marshal, who, according to legend, froze to death on the hundredth day of waiting in vain for the proud poetess Ono no Komachi. The skull, overgrown with pampas grass, lies as a memento mori before the eyes of the young woman—perhaps a modern reincarnation of the ancient beauty. The print refers to one of the “Seven Komachi Legends” (Nana Komachi), part of Japan’s classical Noh repertoire, symbolizing the transience of beauty and fame.

The poem quoted in the upper text begins with the words aname, aname, invoking the spirit of Komachi. The collaboration between Kuniyoshi and his pupil Yoshitsuna illustrates the late Utagawa school practice of uniting figure and landscape in a single poetic design.