Parrot Komachi (Omu Komachi), from the series The Seven Fashionable Aspects of Komachi (Furyu yatsushi nana Komachi)

Suzuki Harunobu (Japanese, 1725 (?)-1770)

Edo period (1615–1868), 1751/64

Medium: Color woodblock print; hosoban
Classification: Print
Dimensions: 31.8 × 15 cm (12 1/2 × 5 7/8 in.)
Culture: Japan
Museum: Art Institute of Chicago, Arts of Asia
Credit line: Clarence Buckingham Collection
Rights: Public domain (CC0), as the museum states it.
Who can see it: Tweens profiles and older: its subjects are known and suit older children. How works are placed

About this work

According to legend, poet Ono no Komachi received a letter from the emperor asking if she missed being at court. By changing only one character, Komachi was able to answer the question with an emphatic yes. This story is referred to as “Parrot Komachi” because of the bird’s talent for repetition. Here a courtesan hands a letter to her assistant, while a parrot is pictured on the standing screen behind her. As with many of the prints in this gallery, this image is a mitate-e (parody picture), in which the actions of modern figures refer to famed episodes in Komachi’s life. The poem written above reads:

The cloud-capped palace Where I lived long ago Has not changed at all: But I saw through my bead curtains— Yes, I think fondly of that!

(Translation by Louise Virgin