Keisai Eisen (渓斎英泉) (artist 1790 – 1848)
Kakemono of the courtesan Takao of the Miuraya reading a love letter (?)
ca 1830
Signed: Keisai Eisen ga
渓斎英泉画
Censor's seal: kiwame
Takao is as famous a name of a courtesan as one could come across anywhere in Japanese history and culture. The first woman who was given the name Takao in the 17th century lived and practiced her art in Kyoto and was so renowned that by the middle of the 19th century there had been 10 other woman upon whom that name had been bestowed. Kyoto was known for its maple leaves and especially their display in fall when they would turn to a luscious red. It was the maple leaf motif that became synonymous with the images of Takao. It was her easy to spot identifier, her crest so to speak, as seen here in the Eisen kakemono with a maple leaf carved as part of this oriran's hairpin. Elsewhere maple leaves show up as part of the pattern on her robes. Whether it was her, as a much desired prostitute, or as the fictionalized lover of Yorikane, daimyō of Ōshu, in the kabuki theater, they were all based on the same real life woman who knew best how to please men.
The fictionalized Takao was based on the real life of Takao II
Sarah E. Thompson in her Utagawa Kuniyoshi: The Sixty-nine Stations of the Kisokaidō she wrote on page 28 about the mythification of the very human woman named Takao:
"According to an urban legend incorporated into the kabuki play The Precious Incense and the Bush Clover of Sendai (Meiboku Sendai hagi), the contract of the second Takao was purchased for her weight in gold by the lord called Ashikaga Yorikane in the play (representing the seventeenth-century historical figure Date Tsunamune...). In the print [the one illustrated on page 29], Takao rises slowly into the air as the side of a giant scale is heaped with gold. The two people staring in awe are probably the brothel owner and manager, who in one version of the story put lead weights into Takao's clothing to increase her price. The first part of the place-name Ageo means "to raise," and the last part is the same as the last part of Takao's name. Takao's personal crest, a maple leaf, decorates her hairpins, and maple leaves form both the series title border and the outline of the inset landscape." [See the jpeg of this print that we added below the main image on this page.]
From fact to fiction
Cecilia Segawa Seigle in her Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan gives us an account on pages 59 to 61, part real and part apocryphal, of the life of Takao II in the middle of the 17th century.
Daimyō, who were often stuck in dull and lifeless marriages made for political reasons, were known to visit the pleasure quarters where they could afford the company and services of the most desirably seductive, elegant and educated courtesans. Because daimyō were often needed on a moments notice, their rank was banned from visiting the Yoshiwara in 1693 and again in 1735. However, these prohibitions were rarely effective. It is from this kind of visit from which the fictionalized story of Yorikane and Takao sprang.
"Among daimyō whose names were connected with the Yoshiwara, Lord Date Tsunamune stands out prominently. He is known as a patron of the celebrated courtesan Takao II of the Great Miura. Takao posthumously became the most renowned name in the Yoshiwara because of the romantic and violent Date legend, and because her professional name was a myōseki (an inherited name) of the Great Miura, the largest house in the early days of the Yoshiwara. There are mentions in records of eleven courtesans name Takao. Contemporary writers indicate that Takao II died of illness in 1659. Yet more than half a century later, she became an important figure in kabuki plays, songs, and novels, as the heroine of a fabricated tragedy."
"According to the tale woven out of facts and fiction, Date Tsunamune, lord of the rich province of Mutsu, was twenty when his first son was born. His uncle, Date Munekatsu, however, wanted to retire the young man so that his own son could become head of the Date clan. Thus the uncle conspired with the head of Date's Edo mansion to undermine the young lord's reputation. Together they instructed their retaines in Edo to persuade him to visit the Yoshiwara. The retainers introduced the leading courtesan of the day, Takao II, to the young Tsunamune, who fell passionately in love with her."
"At the time of their introduction, Takao had a lover, a rōnin with whom she had pledged marriage following her contract term with the Great Miura. Although Tsunamune was ardent was insistent, Takao continued to reject him. Finally he decided to buy her freedom and bring her to his Edo mansion. Tsunamune offered to pay the Great Miura in gold equal to Takao's weight. The story states that, to inflate the price, the proprietor placed iron weights in the courtesan's sleeves. He then claimed from Lord Tsunamune the augmented equivalent in gold, more than 165 pounds."
"Takao was led from the Great Gate of the Yoshiwara at night and placed aboard a boat, which came down the San'ya canal to the Sumida River. Although the mood on the boat was festive, Takao was withdrawn. She wished either to be released or to die. When the boat reached a point on the river called Mitsumata (Three Forks), when tried to throw herself into the river. Furious, Tsunamune grasped her topknot, pulled her down to the bottom of the boat, and plunged his sword into her heart. He threw her body into the water and continued the boat ride to his home. His uncle and other conspirators seized this opportunity to accuse him of wanton behavior and force his retirement. The uncle named Tsunamune's infant son the head of the Date clan, and then tried to murder the infant. A loyal old chamberlain went to Edo and appealed to the shogun to investigate the villainous relatives of Lord Tsunamune. As soon as the bakufu discovered the plot of the disputed family inheritance, the perpetrators were brought to justice and found guilty, and the rights of Tsunamune's son were preserved. Tsunamune himself remained in retirement and later became a monk."
Seigle points out that some of the elements of the kabuki plays about these figures was true. Tsunamune did chase after Takao, but he was not responsible for her death. "Takao might have been lukewarm toward Tsunamune, but that she had a lover is mere speculation." The real Takao was said to have died of 'consumption', either tuberculosis or pneumonia, on December 5, 1659.
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A full length portrait of a high ranking courtesan reading a scroll of poems decorated with actors' mon, her obi decorated with butterflies, her kimonos with bats and even more butterflies. She has applied sasabeni (笹紅) gloss to her lower lip. This gives it a green tone. This cosmetic in its purest form was more expensive than gold.
From Jerry Vegder's Prints of Japan - Eisen - THE BAT MOTIF: Chinese is a tonal language with a many characters having the same sounds, but written with different brush strokes. As a result there are far more homophones in Chinese than there are in English or any other Western language. This allows for greater punning and what appears to us as an obtuse visual reference is easily recognizable and commonplace to the Chinese viewer. One such prominent example is the use of the characters for the sound fú which is spoken with a rising tone. Fú, meaning the word bat, is written as 蝠 while the word fú meaning happiness is written as 福. As a result the bat was portrayed in China as a substitute for the concept of happiness. The Japanese borrowed both characters for their kanji dictionaries and applied them to their own words for happiness and bat. The educated elite and eventually the general population would have known that the image of a bat on such items as clothing was a propitious symbol: may the wearer be happy. Red bats were the most efficacious --- even more than blue bats. That is the message displayed in the kimono of the beauty shown above.
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Another discovery
In early June, 2025 we were looking through an 2013 sales catalogue of Japanese woodblock prints when we ran across another copy of this kakemono. However, that copy had publisher's seal placed in the lower right corner, just below the kiwame seal. Normally kakemono don't display such seals, but this one did and it meant that there were at least two different editions of this composition. Our guess would be the one with the Matsumoto Sahei (松本佐兵衛) seal would be the earlier of the two.
Marks lists the publisher Matsumoto Sahei as #308 and the seal as #21-015. He states that this house was active in ca. 1849, but this kakemono is clearly from an earlier period, ca. 1830.
beautiful woman picture (bijin-ga - 美人画) (genre)
Kakemono-e - 掛物絵 (genre)
bats (komori - 蝙蝠) (genre)