Morning Hair

The title of this print, "asanegami," meaning “sleep-tangled hair,” alludes to a verse from the 8th-century anthology of poems "Manyōshū." The poem’s main character imagines his lovelorn wife refusing to comb her hair in his absence. Torii Kotondo modernized the theme with a young, fashionably dressed woman lying in bed with unkempt hair, brooding upon her lover’s departure. The slightly risqué subject, the striking green of the mosquito net in the background, and the exquisitely detailed execution make this one of Kotondo’s most memorable prints.