Yoshiwara street at night, by Utagawa Kunisada

An image of Yoshiwara street at night. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1864). Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment, for the poem and white pigment for the stars. Shikishiban format surimono. Printer's seal: Ryûsai Chimata (Inô Naojirô). Poet: Danjûrô Emba. Circa 1819. This view shows the main street in the official Yoshiwara pleasure district at the first hint of dawn, with a departing customer conversing with a woman at an upper window, her face lit by the light of a lamp. He wears a black hood to disguise his identity as he leaves on his way to the Nihon Embankment, which separated the Yoshiwara from the city of Edo (Tokyo). Kunisada's signature appears on the street lamp.

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Yoshiwara street at night. Kunisada, Utagawa (Japanese, 1786-1864). Colour print from woodblocks, with metallic pigment, for the poem and white pigment for the stars. Shikishiban format surimono. Printer's seal: Ryûsai Chimata (Inô Naojirô). Poet: Danjûrô Emba. Circa 1819. This view shows the main street in the official Yoshiwara pleasure district at the first hint of dawn, with a departing customer conversing with a woman at an upper window, her face lit by the light of a lamp. He wears a black hood to disguise his identity as he leaves on his way to the Nihon Embankment, which separated the Yoshiwara from the city of Edo (Tokyo). Kunisada's signature appears on the street lamp.

Image data

Accession Number: P.174-2007
Photograph copyright © The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge
Aperture: f/16.0
Focal length: 80
Camera: Hasselblad H3DII-31
Photographer name: Michael Jones
Image height: 1024 pixels
Image width: 934 pixels
Processed with: Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.6 (Macintosh)
Filesize: 305.12kB
Exposure time: 1/125
ISO Speed: 100
Fnumber: 16/1
Captured: 2013:08:16 12:04:47

Key words

19th Century 458392 Country of origin Date Department Edo Period Fitz_PDP Interior/Exterior Japan Japanese Medium Nationalities Object Type Other Keywords Places Names Shikishiban Utagawa Kunisada Workflow Yoshiwara _WF_AdOK _WF_KWD _WF_OPACtd _WF_PCtd brothel building customers dawn evening exterior hair harem headscarf hood hooded night pleasure quarters print stars street lamps streets streetscape surimono woodblock woodcut Artist/Maker

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            The Fitzwilliam Museum (2025)
            "Yoshiwara street at night, by Utagawa Kunisada "
            Web page available at: https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188469 Accessed: 2025-12-31 07:29:48

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            {{cite web|url=https://data.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/id/image/media-188469
            |title=Yoshiwara street at night, by Utagawa Kunisada 
            |author=The Fitzwilliam Museum|accessdate=2025-12-31 07:29:48|publisher=The
            University of Cambridge}}

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