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Torii Kiyonaga

Ono no Komachi Washing the Copybook (Soshiarai Komachi), from the series The Seven Ukiyo-e Aspects of Komachi (Ukiyo-e nana Komachi)

Edo period (1615–1868), about 1779
Color woodblock print; chuban
25.6 × 18.9 cm (10.1 × 7.4 in)

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In the collection of Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago · as of July 2026

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FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

In this image, two young women chat on the veranda of a house while one does her washing in a basin. This scene recalls a story from the life of Ono no Komachi in which one of the poet’s rivals accused her of plagiarizing one of her poems from an ancient book, when in fact he had added her text to the original document. To prove her innocence and thwart the plan, Komachi scrubbed the freshly applied ink from the ancient text.

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