Ono no Komachi at Seki Temple (Seki), from the series The Seven Fashionable Aspects of Komachi (Furyu yatsushi nana Komachi)

In the story of Ono no Komachi at Seki Temple (also the subject of a popular Nō play), a monk and a young boyvisit an old woman who has a talent for poetry. When the woman utters a verse by Komachi, the monk realizes that she is Komachi herself. The poet and the boy then dance together. In this print, a young mother and her child stand in for Komachi and the boy. In the banner above them is a famous poem by Komachi: I that am lonely,Like a reed root-cutShould a stream entice me,Would go, I think. (Translation by Arthur Waley)