Courtesan from the Myōgaya House

Torii Kiyomasu I

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The subject of this print attributed to Torii Kiyomasu is a standing courtesan reading a poem slip. The inscription on the print, Komachi in the Yoshiwara District, refers to the famous Heian poetess, Ono no Komachi, and is thus an acknowledgement of the literary accomplishments of many Yoshiwara courtesans. The unfinished fragment, evoking the hope and the cyclical nature of spring, reads as follows: Life is full of trouble, but the plum blossoms by the window . . . The woman is tiny, but in her voluminous robes with their large-scale decoration of myōga (Japanese ginger), she boldly promotes her house while conveying an ageless grandeur that echoes the sentiment of the poem.

Asian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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.

Metropolitan Museum of Art