Cleveland Museum of Art

Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

Katsushika Hokusai

Date

1799

Medium

Surimono; color woodblock print

Culture

Japan, Edo period (1615–1868)

Department

Japanese Art

Institution

Cleveland Museum of Art

Gomeirō is another name for the fashionable teahouse Ōgi-ya (House of Fans) in the Yoshiwara district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Two courtesans, each attended by a geisha and a shinzō (apprentice to a courtesan) view a full autumn moon as it rises over the surrounding paddy fields. The elegance of the women's flowing robes and the serenity of the evening with a full silver moon contribute to the poetic atmosphere of this surimono , a privately commissioned print usually accompanied by text—here, a poem, which reads: What liveliness! Geisha, shinzō, and jesters fill the room, all guests of the moon.

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