hair ornaments; calligraphy; mirrors; hand mirrors
To celebrate and document the fashions of former times, Chikanobu created a chronological presentation of beautiful women in sumptuous garments. Above the foreground figures are pictorial insets which make reference to the era of the costume,...
group portrait; women; children (people by age group); swords; kimonos; men (male humans); snowstorms
Lady Tokiwa was a Japanese noblewoman of the late Heian period. A concubine or wife to Minamoto no Yoshitomo, she bore him three sons, one of whom became the great samurai general Minamoto no Yoshitsune. After Yoshitomo's death in 1160, she fled...
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; trees; shrines (structures); men (male humans)
A mother and daughter join others in a pilgrimage on New Year's Day to Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples in the auspicious directions from where they live, in order to obtain good luck and prosperity in the coming year. The hall at left is...
men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); kimonos; flowers (plants); vases; cabinets (case furniture); books; tables (support furniture); works of art
When Lu Ji was six years old, he traveled with his father to visit the Chief Minister of Nan Yang. The minister ordered his servants to bring a dish of oranges to offer to the young boy. Lu Ji secreted the fruit away in the sleeve of his robe. When...
men (male humans); women; kimonos; hairstyles; hair ornaments; hats; swords; trees
Nakamura Shikan IV (1830-1899) stars in the role of the evil Matsunaga Daizen Hisahide (1510-1577), who has caused the murder of the shogun Ashikaga Yoshiteru (1536-1565) and seized control of the imperial capital of Kyoto. Daizen is flanked here...
men (male humans); kimonos; edged weapons; clothing; interior spaces; hearth
In this imaginary duel the swordsman Musashi, who was noted for his use of bokutÅ (wooden swords) in duels, attacks the kensei (sword saint) Tsukahara Bokuden (1489-1571), founder of the mutekatsu-ryu school of fighting ("without hands" or...
The arrival of Commodore Matthew Perry in June 1853 with his gunships and the negotiation of a commercial treaty with the west sharply divided Japanese society. Proponents of "Expelling the Barbarians," led by the daimyo of Mito, Tokugawa Nariaki,...
Hanai Oume, who formerly had been a geisha under other names, was the owner of the Suigetsu restaurant in Tokyo. The night of June 9, 1887, she killed a man named Kamekichi on the banks of the Sumida River and afterward was arrested and charged...
Meiji period color woodblock triptych print depicting seven women in a room engaged in a poetry composition contest. Three of the women sit before writing tables, brushes in hand, writing poems on narrow strips of paper; a elderly woman sits with...
Six women prepare for an evening concert. To the left, a woman brings in a tall candlestick to add to another already lighting the scene, while beside her a woman in green sits holding a cup. In the center panel an attendant bring in an ichigenkin,...
