Ono no Komachi, by Yashima Gakutei

An image of Ono no Komachi. Gakutei, Yashima (Japanese, 1786(?)-1868). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing. Early 1820s. Poetry by Bunshosha Masayo. Circa 1820-circa 1823. Ukiyo-e. Notes: From the series of legendary heroines Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase (Framed paintings of women for the Katsushika Group). Ono no Komachi was a celebrated poetess and court beauty in the early Heian period. At the request of the Emperor, she composed a prayer for rain during a drought. Praying to the Dragon God, she threw her poem slip into the pond at the temple: clouds gathered and rain fell for three days. The poem by Bunshosha reads: ‘Spring returns from the past unchanged; I long to see within the curtain of mist.’

Terms of use

These images are provided for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons License (BY-NC-ND). To license a high resolution version, please contact our image library who will discuss fees, terms and waivers.

Download this image

Creative commons explained - what it means, how you can use our's and other people's content.

Ono no Komachi. Gakutei, Yashima (Japanese, 1786(?)-1868). Surimono. Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment and blind embossing. Early 1820s. Poetry by Bunshosha Masayo. Circa 1820-circa 1823. Ukiyo-e. Notes: From the series of legendary heroines Katsushikaren gakumen fujin awase (Framed paintings of women for the Katsushika Group). Ono no Komachi was a celebrated poetess and court beauty in the early Heian period. At the request of the Emperor, she composed a prayer for rain during a drought. Praying to the Dragon God, she threw her poem slip into the pond at the temple: clouds gathered and rain fell for three days. The poem by Bunshosha reads: ‘Spring returns from the past unchanged; I long to see within the curtain of mist.’

Image data

Accession Number: P.302-1937
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.
Aperture: f/20.0
Focal length: 120
Camera: Hasselblad H4D-31
Photographer name: Sam Cole
Image height: 1025 pixels
Image width: 918 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.0 (Windows)
Filesize: 936.56kB
Exposure time: 1/250
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 20/1
Captured: 2017:09:04 10:10:54

Key words

19th Century beauty blind embossing colour printing court poets Edo Period embossed embossing female Fitz_PDP Gakutei hero heroes heroic heroine heroism Japan Japanese kimono Komachi metallic pigment Ono no Komachi pigment poem poetess poetry poets print surimono ukiyo-e woodblock woodcut Yashima Gakutei

Citation for print

This page can be cited in the Harvard Bibliographic style using the text below:


            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2024)
            "Ono no Komachi, by Yashima Gakutei"
            Web page available at: https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-1588148280 Accessed: 2024-12-19 04:44:09

Citation for Wikipedia

To cite this page on Wikipedia you can use this code snippet:


            {{cite web|url=https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/id/image/media-1588148280
            |title=Ono no Komachi, by Yashima Gakutei
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2024-12-19 04:44:09|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

API call for this record

To call these data via our API (remember this needs to be authenticated) you can use this code snippet:

https://collection.beta.fitz.ms/api/v1/images/media-218380

Bootstrap HTML code for reuse

To use this as a simple code embed, copy this string:

<div class="text-center">
    <figure class="figure">
        <img src="https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/imagestore/pdp/pdp82/P_302_1937_1_201709_sjc288_dc2.jpg"
        alt="Ono no Komachi"
        class="img-fluid" />
        <figcaption class="figure-caption text-info">Ono no Komachi, by Yashima Gakutei</figcaption>
    </figure>
</div>