The courtesan Yachiyo of Matsubaya, from an untitled series of courtesans on parade

Dated c. 1814 by the Art Institute of Chicago, this [oban](/glossary/oban) depicts Yachiyo, an oiran of the Matsubaya — one of the great houses of the Yoshiwara — in a dochu (procession) pose. Matsubaya was among the most prestigious of the Yoshiwara houses, and named portraits of its highest-ranking courtesans were a recurring genre across late-Edo [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga). Eizan presents Yachiyo in the elaborate frontal pose of the dochu: enormous obi tied at the front, lavish patterned robes, towering kanzashi hairpins, and a slight tilt of the head that signals the oiran's poise as she pauses mid-procession. The Art Institute identifies the print as part of an untitled series of courtesans on parade, suggesting that several Matsubaya and other top-house women would have been depicted in the same format. As a record of named Yoshiwara figures the print is also a useful document of early-nineteenth-century courtesan fashion at its most elaborate.