Within the series of more than 20 triptychs, at least 2 have close-up scenes, in which the figures dominate the composition. When viewing these images mounted in a handscroll format, the sudden appearance of these large forms in quite jarring...
Although the Heike forces had fled to boats off the shore of Yashima, one vessel turned back to the beach. At its prow stood a young woman, dressed in beautiful court garments, who took a folding fan decorated with the rising sun emblem and...
In the autumn fashionable geisha would dress in their lover's garments to visit the neighborhood shrine and participate in Niwaka kyogen, impromptu skits about life in the brothels. Dressed like an elegant young man, a young lady glances up at a...
Although a trusted retainer of the warlord Oda Nobunaga (1510-1551), Akechi Mitsuhide (1528-1582) was enraged when Nobunaga murdered his mother. Mitsuhide attacked Nobunaga at the Kyoto temple of Honno-ji, setting it afire. Nobunaga reportedly...
A woman in an ornately patterned blue kimono stands before a flowering tree. A box is tucked into the edge of the red kimono she wears beneath the blue one; beneath this we see three white layers. She wears a cluster of gold flowers on each side of...
This scene is from the 2nd act of the long play "The Precious Incense and Autumn Flowers of Sendai" / Meiboku Sendai hagi, first written in 1777 for the Osaka kabuki stage in and then greatly expanded in 1785 for the puppet theater, the reverse of...
women; children (people by age group); infants; kimonos; books; fans (costume accessories); toys (recreational artifacts)
Seven children are shown amidst toys, games and books. Two girls play ayatori / "string pulling" or cat's cradle, while a young lad looks at pictures of samurai / "warriors." An inu haiku / papier mache dog is at right, next to a fan, drum and...
Three women in flowered kimono surround an aquarium containing long-finned goldfish. Behind them on a table sits a bonsai display, depicting a mountain and trees by a river. On the left a standing woman in a blue and pink tinted kimono and red obi...
Rakugo / "humorous storytelling" is shown in the circular scene, with the narrator seated on a stage before an audience of young and old. A wall poster suggests that this is the famous Enshi Danshuro (1838-1900) who was popular for his tales based...
men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); kimonos; trees; flowers (plants)
According to a noh play, a woman from Mino Province had become a courtesan in the capital. Honoring a promise to a customer, she sent a treasured fan to Yoshida no Shosho, but because he did not respond, she went mad, wandering the streets and...
The warrior Ota Dokan Sukenaga (1432-1486) was caught in a rain storm and sought refuge at a rundown mill. The owner's daughter, instead of bringing him rain gear, delivered a fan decorated with yellow mountain rose flowers / yamabuki, making...
This popular series that illustrates the war stories of the Heike monogatari was first published in 1898-99 by Fukuda Heijiro and then reissued (in this case in 1906 by a different publisher). The later editions are less subtly colored, but the...
women; men (male humans); kimonos; military uniforms; drums (membranophones); flutes (aerophones); biwa; swords; fans (costume accessories)
The emperor, empress and five court ladies at right observe a traditional shirabyoshi dancer. While the imperial couple sit in chairs at a table, their attendants kneel on the carpeted verandah. Also on the porch is an enormous flower arrangement...
These two women are dressed in summer kimono with blue water patterns. The kneeling woman holds out an ornament with a straw dragon entwined around a pine branch, a symbol of the “sea god” / umi no kami associated with the worship of the Shinto...
men (male humans); soldiers; military uniforms; halberds; swords; chairs; fans (costume accessories); rifles (long guns); revolvers (firearms); maps; kimonos;
This imaginary group portrait has Saigo Takamori (1827-1877) seated at the top center panel dressed in a European style officer's uniform. He seems to direct his gaze toward Murata Shinpachi (1836-1877), his deputy in charge of the artillery,...
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...
group portrait; women; courtesans; kimonos; hair ornaments; Single Built Works; sandals; axes (tools)
The series "Praise for Multicolored Blossoms" depicts the inhabitants of the Shin Yoshiwara, the government-licensed pleasure quarters. The prints are portraits of courtesans of the district, with their names and workplaces written on the fan in...
Meiji period color woodblock print depicting the head of a young bijin wearing a kimono decorated with wisteria and holding a closed fan. The upper part of the print pictures a festival with an elephant float. Kansei no Koro.
The series, "Mirror...
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...
Yoshiwara was the pleasure district of Edo, a city within the city surrounded by high walls and a water moat, which housed Edo's prostitutes from 1617 to 1957. Its courtesans were considered among the "Flowers of Edo." The print combines three...
