The Waitress Okita of the Naniwaya Teahouse

Okita, a waitress at a tea shop beside the Zuijin gate in Asakusa sits with a small dog in her arms, perhaps during a slow time at the shop. She was one of the three celebrated beauties of the Kansei era (1789–1801), along with Ohisa, of the Takashimaya tea shop, and the geisha Toyohina. Although not named, Okita can be identified by various clues. Above her is a doorway curtain (noren) with the shop name Naniwaya. The curtain displays the shop’s paulownia crest motif, which is likewise seen on Okita’s kimono.