Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Higashiyama

Kitagawa Utamaro Collection

Hideyoshi and his Five Wives Viewing Cherry Blossoms at Higashiyama 

(Taiko gosai rakuto yukan no zu) 

PUBLISHED BY: c. 1803/04

FORMAT: Color woodblock print; oban triptych 36.6 x 73.5 cm
CARVER: Kagaya

NOTES: Also known as Kanji : 太閤五妻洛東遊観之図 Series Kanji : None
Toyotomi Hideyoshi at flower-viewing party with his wife (Kita no Mandokoro), concubines (Lady Kana, Lady Sanjo, Ishida Mitsunari, Lady Matsu no Maru, Okoi-no-kata, Lady Yodo) and attendants.
Signed: (printed) Utamaro hitsu
In the early summer of 1804, artists Kitagawa Utamaro (1753?–1806), Kitagawa Tsukimaro (act. 1794–1836), Utagawa Toyokuni (1769–1825), Katsukawa Shuntei (1770–1820) and Katsukawa Shun'ei (1762–1819), the writer Jippensha Ikku (1765–1831) and their publishers were punished for representing sixteenth-century warlord Toyotomi Hideyoshi in commercial prints.

 

Asuka and Nara Period

The Impact of China and Buddhism on Japanese art during the Asuka and Nara Period.

The Asuka period (飛鳥時代 Asuka jidai) was a period in the history of Japan lasting from 538 to 710 (or 592 to 645), although its beginning could be said to overlap with the preceding Kofun period.

The Nara period (奈良時代 Nara jidai) of the history of Japan covers the years from AD 710 to 794. Empress Genmei established the capital of Heijō-kyō (present-day Nara).
 
Shaka Image of Asuka-dera by Tori Busshi Shaka Triad in Horyu-ji by Tori Busshi Yumedono Kannon (also Kuze- or Guze Kannon) in Yumedono Hall of Horyu-ji, early 7th c. Yakushi Triad, Yakushi-ji, late 7th or 8th c. Daibutsu of Todai-ji, Daibutsuden Fukukenjaku Kannon, Hokkedo, Todaiji, 740s Shukongojin, Hokedo, Todai-ji, 733 Birushana Buddha of Toshodaiji, 8th c. Further Reading & Sources: History of Japanese Art by Penelope Mason Japanese Art by Joan Stanley-Baker

Shunga on the TV

Dr James Fox examines the art and culture of Japan in a series on BBC4 - Series 1 Episode 2

He examines the artistic life of three great Japanese cities shaped the country's attitudes to past and present, east and west, and helped forge the very idea of Japan itself.

Beginning in Kyoto, the country's capital for almost a thousand years, James reveals how the flowering of classical culture produced many great treasures of Japanese art, including The Tale of Genji, considered to be the first novel ever written. In the city of Edo, where Tokyo now stands, a very different art form emerged, in the wood block prints of artists such as Hokusai and Hiroshige. James meets the artisans still creating these prints today, and discovers original works by a great master, Utamaro, who documented the so-called 'floating world' - the pleasure district of Edo.

In contemporary Tokyo, James discovers the darker side of Japan's urbanisation, through the photographs of street photographer Daido Moriyama, and meets one of the founders of the world-famous Studio Ghibli, Isao Takahata, whose haunting anime film Grave of the Fireflies helped establish anime as a powerful and serious art form.

 "No artist captured the "floating world" better than Kitagawa Utamaro"

Poem of the Pillow