women; men (male humans); children (people by age group); parasols; Built complexes and districts; costume; hats; sandals
From one of the gate towers of Edo Castle, the shogun and his advisers observe the testing of munitions in nearby Edo Bay. The circular inset shows the launch tower for the explosives, with a paper lantern bearing the inscription "Official Use" /...
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; books; clocks; tables (support furniture); cabinets (case furniture); calligraphy
Two girls and their mother are enjoying books. One daughter is kneeling before an open illustrated volume, holding a pointer to help her read. Her sister, standing behind, holds another thread bound book, similar in color to the cover of the one...
The alleged poisoning of the great warrior Kato Kiyomasa (1562-1611) was the subject of a kabuki play that premiered in 1807, but due to government censorship at the time, the main character's name was changed Sato Masakiyo. According to legend,...
On the second floor of a Western-style building, probably the famous Rokumeikan, Japanese couples appear to be taking dancing lessons, accompanied by two pianists. The young people seem awkward in movement and intent in their expressions,...
castles (fortifications); architectural elements; men (male humans); lanterns
From one of the gate towers of Edo Castle, the shogun and his advisers observe the testing of munitions in nearby Edo Bay. The circular inset shows the launch tower for the explosives, with a paper lantern bearing the inscription "Official Use" /...
group portrait; princes; women; kimonos; hairstyles; men (male humans); hair ornaments; flowers (plants); swords; toys (recreational artifacts); children (people by age group); banners; blinds (coverings); porches; carriages (vehicles)
The emperor appears at far left dressed in traditional court robes surrounded by his female attendants, some of whom are helping wheel a baby carriage and toy horses into the palace chamber. Being published in May 1878, this seems like a...
Part of a series of 40 prints of scenes set inside the women's quarters of the shogun's palace in Edo depicting the leisure activities of high-born women. Here two elegantly dressed women play backgammon. One of the women sits behind a screen; she...
Akoya, an entertainer in Kyoto’s Kiyomizu zaka pleasure quarters, was mistress to the Heike warrior Taira Kagekiyo (died 1196), who was captured at the Battle of Dan-no-ura in 1185 but had escaped. The Genji commander ordered Hatakeyama Shigetada...
women; girls; kimonos; hair ornaments; hairstyles; waterfalls (natural bodies of water); Japanese gardens; built works
A group of women stand on the banks of a stream in a garden. Behind them stands a cliff, over which falls a waterfall. In the far background a pavilion overlooks the water.
The courtesan Ainosuke of the brothel Inamoto-ro is seated before a mirror at her dressing table, fixing her hair. Her cotton yukata with a wave pattern and water wheel design suggests she has just returned from the bath. On a nearby clothes rack...
The book entitled "The Twenty-four Paragons of Filial Piety" was written by the Chinese scholar Guo Jujing during the Yuan Dynasty. The book recounts the extremes to which twenty-four sons and daughters go to honor their elders. This type of print...
men (male humans); battles; swords; warriors; armor (protective wear); crates
Representation of a warrior in battle. Standing behind the cover of a crate, he raises his sword overhead in a two-handed grip. A spear is thrust in to the crate before him. Left panel of a triptych.
Rashomon was the main gate into Kyoto and haunted by the demon Ibaraki, which lived in the rafters of the gate. Here, the hero Watanabe no Tsuna approaches the gate astride a prancing, blue-eyed, brown horse in a tremendous downpour indicated by...
legends (folk tales); women; kimonos; lanterns; children (people by age group); fusuma; interior spaces; foxes (animals)
An image of a woman, with a fox's head (seen through a screen) walking through a door, leaving her child behind in the house. Foxes, or kitsune, are mysterious, magical creatures with powers many times greater than those of badgers. Sometimes...
A man in ragged robes sits on the ground before a yellow-flowering bush watching sparrows flying above him. Sanekata was a poet and high-ranking nobleman of the Fujiwara clan. He died in exile in 994. Toward the end of his political career,...
A woman, in distress, is jumping in a river. The moon is setting and two white herons rise from the water near her. The story behind the image is: When her father lost his money and was jailed, Chikako tried to win his release. To prove herself a...
A man in ragged robes sits on the ground before a yellow-flowering bush watching sparrows flying above him. Sanekata was a poet and high-ranking nobleman of the Fujiwara clan. He died in exile in 994. Toward the end of his political career,...
The fisherman Urashima Taro is carried back to his home on the back of a giant turtle after visiting the Emperor of the Sea at the Palace of the Dragon. He is dressed in rough working clothes with straw gaiters on his legs and carries a pole in his...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; interior spaces;
In this charming domestic scene Princess Yohime, daughter of the eleventh Shogun Tokugawa Ienari, is crouched down untying the sandal of her husband; he gazes down at her with tender regard. He sits half in and half out the entrance to a house with...
Back to back print. The warrior Minamoto Yoshitomo (1123-1160) died in his efforts to overthrow the imperial chancellor Taira Kiyomori. Here Yoshitomo is shown bidding farewell to his wife Lady Tokiwa just before departing on his unsuccessful...
