Ono no Komachi Praying for Rain
Edo period (1615–1868), 1766
Attributed to Suzuki Harunobu 鈴木 春信 Japanese, 1725 (?)-1770
Japan
As in the print nearby, Suzuki Harunobu also adapted this design from the earlier series The Seven Fashionable Aspects of Komachi. This version, a pictorial calendar for the year 1766, depicts two girls at a riverbank. In the banner at the upper right is an umbrella and two slips of paper used to write poems. These objects refer to the story of Ono no Komachi praying for rain. Ordered by an emperor to recite a poem about rain to end a drought, Komachi did so, and legend has it that the heavens opened up and it began to pour.
Color woodblock print; chuban