Ono no Komachi Visiting Kiyomizu Temple, from the series The Fashionable Seven Komachi (Furyu nana Komachi)

Ono no Komachi Visiting Kiyomizu Temple belongs to Chobunsai Eishi's series The Fashionable Seven Komachi (Furyu nana Komachi), a sequence dated to around 1781 and held by the Art Institute of Chicago. The Seven Komachi were a long-standing literary cycle that paired episodes from the legendary life of the Heian poet Ono no Komachi with seven evocative situations, and Eishi follows the established mitate-e convention by recasting each scene with stylish contemporary women rather than ancient courtiers. In this design the protagonist makes a pilgrimage to Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, a site historically associated with prayer and amorous longing. Eishi translates the journey into Edo [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) terms by clothing his heroine in fashionable late-eighteenth-century kimono, surrounding her with companions whose attitudes suggest the small rituals of a temple visit. The composition relies on the elongated proportions and quiet vertical rhythms that became Eishi's signature: figures stand tall and slender against unobtrusive ground, with negative space allowed to breathe between sash, sleeve, and hairline. His Kano-trained [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) draftsmanship is evident in the disciplined outlines and the careful internal articulation of garment folds. Because the series rewards literary recognition, the image works on two registers at once, presenting a beautifully observed contemporary scene to viewers who know nothing of Komachi while flattering connoisseurs who can identify the original poetic episode behind the modern dress. The Art Institute's impression preserves the print's restrained palette and confirms its place in the Furyu nana Komachi sequence, an early example of Eishi's gift for blending classical allusion with the prevailing taste of Edo townspeople.