Masako of Mino [Prefecture]

The elongated format of this print is well suited for the image of a courtesan in her sleepwear carrying an infant on her shoulder. At her feet, a young attendant (kamuro) entertains the child. The inscription on the right edge of the print gives the name of the series from which it comes: seemingly seven prints with poetry by seven famous women poets. Although not all of these have been identified, each print seems to have contained a poetic inscription and a private scene of daily life.
This print features the poet Yabe Masako (1745–1773), who was born in Mino Province and died before the age of thirty. On the left side of the print is inscribed one of her better-known waka poems, entitled “Love Associated with Clothing” (Kinu ni yosuru koi)—included in the 1790 directory of notable eccentrics Kinsei kijin den (volume 4), as well as in the love section of Masako’s own poetry anthology Yabe Shōshi shōshū.
Omou sono
hito ni wa kiseshi
tsukikusa no
hana surikoromo
utsurō ga uki
It wafts by,
the fading scent of the
moonflower-rubbed robe
that was worn
by the man I love