The Lovers Oshichi and Kichisaburo

The Lovers Oshichi and Kichisaburo

Kitagawa Utamaro

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The lurid story of this ill-fated pair was made into a popular Kabuki drama. Oshichi, the daughter of a greengrocer, fell in love with Kichisaburo when she was evacuated to a temple where he was a boy servant during the great 1683 fire in Edo. After returning home she was unable to see him again. Insane with longing, she deliberately set fire to her house and was later tried and executed for arson.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Lovers Oshichi and KichisaburoThe Lovers Oshichi and KichisaburoThe Lovers Oshichi and KichisaburoThe Lovers Oshichi and KichisaburoThe Lovers Oshichi and Kichisaburo

The Met's collection of Asian art—more than 35,000 objects, ranging in date from the third millennium B.C. to the twenty-first century—is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Each of the many civilizations of Asia is represented by outstanding works, providing an unrivaled experience of the artistic traditions of nearly half the world.