Akazome Emon views the moon

Akazome Emon (956-1041 AD) was an important poet of the Heian period. She is considered the principle author of the Eiga Monogatari, a history of the powerful Fujiwara family. She lived in the household of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and the majority of this work describes the life of Michinaga. This print illustrates one of Akazome's poems:

I wish I had gone to bed immediately

but now the night has passed

and I watch the moon descend.

 

Akazome, her hair worn long in the Heian fashion, has waited up all night for a lover who did not arrive. She stands here in the doorway, looking out at the moon.