Cleveland Museum of Art

Courtesans Promenading on the Nakanochō

Utagawa ToyokuniLinkedCulture matchlcp-7fb54014fdbe

Date: c. 1790
Medium: One of a triptych of color woodblock prints
Culture: Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)
Department: Japanese Art
Institution: Cleveland Museum of Art
Object ID: 111684

From the Cleveland Museum of Art record

Nakanochō was the main street in Yoshiwara, a famous walled pleasure district that housed as many as 4,000 courtesans. In the early evening, elaborately dressed courtesans accompanied by attendants promenaded on the central thoroughfare, as in this scene. The open buildings with shop curtains hanging from their eaves are teahouses, establishments where men could arrange appointments with courtesans of the more prestigious brothels.

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Provenance & credit

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Credit line: Bequest of Edward L. Whittemore
Provenance: Hayashi Tadamasa | (Yamanaka & Co., New York, NY) | ?–1930: Edward L. Whittemore [1862–1930], Cleveland, OH, bequest to the Cleveland Museum of Art | 1930–: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH