The Museum Collection (digital archives)

Last updated: February 23, 2026

Portraits of Three Poets (Hitomaro, Komachi, and Kisen)(Waka Scrolls by Matsudaira Yorishige)

Artist
Painting: Kanō Tan'yū (1602–1674), Kanō Naonobu (1607–1650), and Kanō Yasunobu (1613–1685) Calligraphy: Matsudaira Yorishige (1622–1695)
Period
Edo period, 17th century
Quality and quantity
Color on silk, three hanging scrolls
Size (cm)
Individual scrolls: H 101.5 × W 48.0
Category
Painting (Japan)
Classification
Designated by the city or town
Accession number
MY0#00017

Description

This set of three hanging scrolls depicts Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, Ono no Komachi, and Kisen Hōshi. Each figure was painted by one of the three brothers of the Kanō school, Tan’yū, Naonobu, and Yasunobu, who served as official painters to the Tokugawa shogunate. Accompanying each portrait is a waka poem composed by the subject of the painting that was included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (“One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each”), transcribed by Matsudaira Yorishige.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was an eminent poet included in the Man’yōshū, Japan’s earliest poetry anthology. He was active before the Nara period (710–793).
Ono no Komachi was one of the foremost poets of the Heian period. She is renowned as a member of both the Six Immortal Poets and the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
Kisen Hōshi was a poet of the Heian period. He is known as one of the Six Immortal Poets.