Ono no Komachi by the Waterfall (Shimizu), from the series The Seven Fashionable Aspects of Komachi (Furyu yatsushi nana Komachi)

In this print, two fashionably dressed young women view cherry blossoms at the peak of their season at Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto. This scene is based on a legend about a young Ono no Komachi (also the subject of a Nō play) in which she would frequent the temple, possibly to meet up with a man. At the upper right is a picture of Kiyomizu Temple, with its three waterfalls, which can still be seen today. The poem reads:

Despite all I do
It is of no avail—
My body has grown old;
While the waterfall remains
Unchanged in its appearance.

(Translation by Louise Virgin)