Kuchi-E Woodblock Print by Keishu Takeuchi: Koharu Biyori or a Balmy Autumn Day, Framed

She tucks her chin into her collar while maple leaves drift past.

Koharu biyori, or A balmy autumn day, is a framed kuchi-e woodblock print by Keishu Takeuchi (1861 – 1942), from Japan, ca. 1910, ink on paper. Kuchi-e were frontispiece prints bound into Japanese novels and literary magazines of the Meiji and Taisho years, and beauties were a favorite subject. A young woman with a tall black coiffure and yellow hair ribbon draws a violet haori close around her. Beneath it show a gray-green kimono, a blue collar and a patterned obi. Red maple leaves fall around her. The image is 8.6 inches wide and 12.2 high, framed at 21 by 25.75.

Balmy, according to the title. She has her doubts.