The Oiran Hinazuru of Chōjiya Holding a Round Fan (Uchiwa)

The Oiran Hinazuru of Chōjiya Holding a Round Fan (Uchiwa) is a finely focused single-figure portrait that demonstrates Chobunsai Eishi's command of named-courtesan imagery. Hinazuru, a top-ranking oiran of the Chōjiya, one of the Yoshiwara's most prestigious houses, is shown holding a round uchiwa fan, an accessory long associated with summer leisure and elegant gesture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art preserves this impression. Eishi arranges the figure vertically, her long robes cascading from her shoulders to the lower edge of the sheet, while the round fan provides a quiet visual counterweight in her hand. As Edo [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga), the print belongs to the genre of single-courtesan portraits that functioned almost as celebrity prints, allowing Edo consumers to follow the changing fashions and personalities of high-ranking women in the licensed quarter. Eishi's distinctive ideal of beauty, with its slender proportions, narrow shoulders, and contemplative gaze, gives Hinazuru an air of refined self-possession rather than overt flirtation. The disciplined contour lines, restrained palette, and carefully balanced patterns of her robes reveal his Kano-trained [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) background, traceable to his studies under Kano Eisen-in before he turned to popular print design. The integration of the round fan into the composition demonstrates his characteristic care with accessories, which often carry seasonal or social meaning. Chobunsai Eishi here treats Hinazuru as both a specific celebrated woman and an emblem of cultivated Yoshiwara taste, presenting her with the calm dignity that made his courtesan portraits so valued.