44. Akazome Emon viewing the moon from her palace chambers

Akazome Emon (956-­1041 AD) was a celebrated woman poet at the Heian court. She served in the household of Fujiwara no Michinaga, the prime minister of the day, and father-in-law of several emperors, and she is considered to have been the main author of the Eiga Monogatari, the Fujiwara family history. Here she is portrayed at her doorstep, after a long, sleepless night, awaiting her lover who has failed to show up. Her poem reads: “I wish I had gone to bed immediately - but now the night has passed and I watch the moon descend.” (probably printed in 1887)