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Girl with a branch of yamabuki: mitate of Ota Dokan Woodblock print, unsigned, published circa 1766-67 Vertical chuban: 11 1/8 x 8 ? in. (28.3 x 21.6 cm.)
A young girl wearing a pink kimono decorated with irises steps out of a doorway into heavy rainfall. In her hand is a branch of yamabuki which alludes to the story of Ota Dokan, a 15th century warrior who, caught in rain whilst hunting, went to a small cottage and asked a young girl for a raincoat and was frustrated to be offered a branch of yamabuki instead. This was reference to a 10th century poem: nanae yae / hana wa sakedomo / yamabuki no / mi no hitotsu dani / naki zo kanashiki (Although its flowers/ may bloom seven or eight times / the yamabuki / never puts out any fruit: / a matter for grief indeed!). Dokan was supposed to have picked up on the pun of mi no (fruit of) and mino (straw raincoat), resulting in the end of the poem reading "I regret that I have no raincoat". Later he was so ashamed by his lack of culture that he decided to study the classics. See David Waterhouse, The Harunobu Decade, (The Netherlands, 2013), p.53.
The same print is in the collection of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, accession no. 21.4615, and Arthur M. Sackler Museum, accession no. 1933.4.2647.