Minneapolis Institute of Art

Yoshiwara Picture Book of New Year’s Festivities, vol. 1

Kitagawa Utamaro; Author: Jippensha Ikku; Publisher: Kazusaya Chūsuke; Carver: Fuji Kazumune; Printer: Kakushōdō Tōemon; Assistant: Kitagawa Hidemaro

Date

1804

Medium

Woodblock printed book, ink and limited color on paper

Department

Asian Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

This book, from a two-volume set, depicts annual events and ceremonial scenes in Edo's licensed pleasure quarter, known as the Yoshiwara. The niwaka festival depicted here was one of the most extravagant of these occasions. Niwaka , meaning spontaneous, originally referred to impromptu comedy skits. The festival consisted of costumed processions, a parade of floats, and the niwaka skits. This scene shows a shishi-mai , a lion dance in which performers carry a large, fantastic lion-like mask. Traditionally lion dances in the more stately Nō theater were performed as an act of exorcism, but in the Yoshiwara's niwaka festival the religious significance was downplayed in favor of the lighthearted merriment and spectacle of women dressed in fanciful costumes. Japan, Asia

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