Intellect concealed in seductiveness

The courtesan Takaodayu, known as the ultimate “woman of pleasure”, used her captivating beauty to charm only the most powerful and highest class of men of her time. With her lustrous “seductiveness” and smooth “intellect”, she captivated them one and all. With a cigarette in her hand and wearing flowers of the most brilliant colors, fully versed in the arts of tea ceremony and flower arrangement, Takaodayu’s overwhelming beauty enthralled the highest ranking of her age. She was truly a person on a pedestal, an unobtainable vision. Behind her gaudy façade, however, she had another side of seeking true love and devoting her life to loving just one man. The contradiction of loving a single man as the ultimate woman of pleasure. A woman like a flower elegantly blooming amid wreathes of smoke, possessed of the ultimate gorgeousness but also the sadness.

NOTE: JAPONISM POWDERY FLORAL
The mellow seductiveness of brilliantly colored flowers is gently enveloped and fused with the tobacco smoke of smoldering intellect, while the deeply spreading turmeric (ukon) and medicinal plants further bring out the latent, holy fragrance that lies deep inside. A fragrance like sweet and rich honey.