Yoshitoshi - Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Twenty-Four Hours at Shinbashi and Yanagibashi 3 a.m. - Geisha in bed holding pipe and tobacco pouch. One of the finest of this series, reminiscent of his later, famous series 32 Aspects of Customs and Manners. This print depicts a courtesan: it is 3 o'clock in the morning; she is barely dressed, her clothes in disarray and she is smoking.

During Yoshitoshi's life, the Yoshiwara districts of Shinbashi and Yanagibashi were busy and quite lively. Yoshitoshi's uncle lived in Shinbashi, and Yoshitoshi spent years in the neighborhood. The Yanagibashi district, along the Sumida river, had long been the dominant geisha area but Shinbashi was growing in prominence at the time this series was published. This series presents a chronologic glimpse into 24 hours in the life of the area. The text was written by Takabatake Ransen, a journalist who also wrote many of the news stories in nishikii by Yoshiiku and other artists.

Date: 1880

Publisher: Morimoto Junzaburo

Condition: Very good color. Backed on Edo-era paper. Minor tape residue on back.

Genre: Ukiyo-e

Medium: Woodblock Print

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