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...
men (male humans); women; trees; snow (precipitation); kimonos; sandals; hats; built works; stables (animal housing)
In the dead of winter, a Buddhist priest showed up unexpectedly at the cottage of Sano Genzaemon Tsuneyo in Yashu (Shimotsuke Province, modern Tochigi Prefecture). The impoverished warrior offered what hospitality he could, although recently he had...
women; kimonos; parasols; sandals; boys; men (male humans); suits (main garments); balloons (toys); Built complexes and districts; statues
Meiji period color woodblock print. Visitors to Ueno Park stand near a bronze statue of Saigo Takamori. In the foreground a boy in a sailor suit holds a balloon. One woman takes his hand while another stands nearly with an umbrella. Men in...
women; children (people by age group); Single Built Works; trees; banners; kimonos; sandals
A mother carries her son on her back "horse riding" / uma nori - piggy back- style while her daughter entertains him with some hand puppets of a fox woman and samurai. The inset shows the Inari Shrine at Oji, one of the oldest Shinto sites in the...
legends (folk tales); men (male humans); women; children (people by age group); swords; kimonos; waterfalls (natural bodies of water); baskets
The 24 Paragons of Filial Piety are based on a compilation of Confucian tales of exemplary behavior by children to their elders. In this tale, Chi Shun went into the forest to gather mulberries for his widowed mother, throwing the ripe, black...
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; men (male humans); kimonos; lanterns (lighting devices); waterfalls (natural bodies of water); hats; pipes (smoking equipment); sandals; Japanese maple; built works; palanquins
The Nikko area in the mountains north of Edo/Tokyo is famous for autumn colors and for the many waterfalls that feed into Lake Chuzenji. In this view Hannya is on the right and the higher Hoto at left. Chikanobu shows two elegantly dressed ladies,...
Meiji period color woodblock print; a highly unusual design in Chikanobu's output. This design was obviously intended for the gaijin, and has been printed with an English title in the top margin. The eagle is depicted in its death throes, in the...
warriors; armor (protective wear); banners; women; kimonos; snow (precipitation); sandals; built works
Lady Tsukiyama (1542-1579), adopted daughter of Imagawa Yoshimoto (1519-1560), military governor of Sanshu, Mikawa Province, was married in 1557 for political alliance reasons to Tokugawa Ieyasu (1542-1616), who was born at Okazaki Castle but was...
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; 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); men (male humans); kimonos; hairstyles; hats; sandals; zoos; trees
Meiji period Japanese color woodblock print from the series "Scenes for the 12 Zodiac Signs." In the image two women walk hand in hand with a girl between them. Above is an inset of a scene of a goat in the zoo.
women; men (male humans); bodies of water; kimonos; hats; sandals; swords; Built complexes and districts
Meiji period color woodblock print from the series "Snow, Moon, Flower." The warrior Asahina looks down on Princess Katami who attempts to escape the Mutsu Province castle at Hirosaki. The image in the inset reveals two male figures, one with...
women; men (male humans); bodies of water; kimonos; hats; sandals; swords; boats; Built complexes and districts
ada Asahina Saburo Yoshihide was said to be the son of the female warrior Tomoe gozen and Wada Yoshimori (1146-1213), a trusted advisor of Minamoto no Yoritomo. Asahina was noted for his strength and bravery, and when his father was killed by the...
Wangpou was so diligent about calming his mother's fear of lightning that even after her death, he would go to her tomb during a rainstorm to comfort her. By contrast, this modern woman, caught in a summer downpour, seems unconcerned about the...
women; courtesans; men (male humans); children (people by age group); snow (precipitation); swords; trees; hats; sandals; Built complexes and districts
The Yoshiwara courtesan Urazato had a child by Tokijiro, but the Yamana-ya brothel owner forbid Urazato from seeing her lover, according to the kabuki play Akegarasu Hana no Nureginu. On a snowy evening, Urazato goes into the garden to meet...
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...
In the last act of this 5 act play "Lord Kiichi's Three Books of Tactics" / Kiichi hogen sanryaku no maki written for the puppet theater in 1731, the famous warrior Yoshioka Kiichi has retired from the conflicts between the Genji and Heike clans....
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; hairstyles; trees; flowers (plants); sandals; shrines (structures)
The Shinto Shrine at Kameido is dedicated to Sugawara Michizane, also known as Kitano Tenjin, who had a great love of plum blossoms, so the grounds are noted for their early spring flowers (a branch of which juts into the composition and extends...
