This later Setsu gekka series, which numbers at least 30 prints, is rather lyrical in its depiction of seasonal change. Flower petals flutter to the ground as a little dog tugs on its leash. Mist crosses a full summer moon as Niwaka Festival...
women; children (people by age group); bats (animals); trees; built works; bridges (built works)
As three bats / komori circle in the evening sky, two boys try to touch them with bamboo sticks while their mother and baby brother look on. Bats have long been a symbol of good luck in Northeast Asia because the words in Chinese for "bat" and for...
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...
Built complexes and districts; streets; banners; women; men (male humans); palanquins; processions; floats (vehicles); soldiers; kimonos; trees; fans (costume accessories); blinds (coverings); hairstyles; hats
A grand summer festival with a parade of palanquins and floats was staged on the 15th day of the 6th month to celebrate the Mountain Deity (Sanno) of Hie Shrine who had protected Edo Castle since 1478. Ota Dokan (1432-86), the military governor of...
The 3 foreground figures appear to be enjoying an outing by Edo Bay, stopping near a rock outcropping and pine tree. Since these elegantly dressed women appear to be engaged in a conversation, it is uncertain what the kneeling woman is pointing out...
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...
The oldest known Japanese narrative, this sad fairy tale dates back to the 9th or 10th century. In this tale Kaguya-hime was found inside a bamboo stalk by a bamboo cutter, who took her home and raised her as his daughter. As she grew up the fame...
Huangxiang was so devoted to his aged father that he lightly fanned him night and day throughout the summer. Okyo might be similarly dedicated, but the look on her face and the sash tied in front suggest that she is a prostitute cooling her client.
women; children (people by age group); kimonos; sandals; hairstyles; fences
As evening begins to fall, four children are playing outside a fenced compound by casting shadows in the moonlight. The pudgy boy in a light-weight cotton robe / yukata seems almost surprised by his hand shape on the ground. While his two older...
princesses; women; children (people by age group); men (male humans); flowers (plants); trees; swords; flutes (aerophones); hairstyles; hair ornaments
Under a summer moon in Oshu (Mustu Province), Princess Nadeshiko, who had been fulling silk, is attacked by the robber Tsuchikuro. She parries his sword thrust by throwing a fulling mallet into his face.
