Portrait of Sei Shōnagon
Kobayashi Kiyochika (1896)
A woodblock-printed portrait of the Heian-period author Sei Shōnagon. Compared to her contemporary, Murasaki Shikibu, Sei is not as often depicted in artwork; her work The Pillow Book has a much different history and reputation than The Tale of Genji, having inspired numerous sex manuals and erotic books.