Brothel maids or prostitutes (detail)

Beauties
PhotoHistory
PhotoGuide Japan
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Ono no Komachi, whose life is shrouded in mystery, is believed to have been active in the tenth century. She is a legendary figure, a woman of great beauty and passion, who has been dramatized in many genres.
The poem in this scroll reads:

Wretched that I am-
A floating water weed
Broken from its roots -
If a stream should beckon,
I would follow it, I think.

The Poetess Ono no Komachi
Suzuki Kiitsu
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art, Cornell University