Utagawa Kunisada
Japanese, 1786-1864

Male Geisha Delivering Message, ca. 1850
With Nanushi seal of censor

Nishiki-e (color woodblock print)
Oban format
Diptych (probably a triptych with missing sheet)
Signed: Ichiyusai Toyokuni and Kochoro Toyokuni

Museum Collection

The male geisha Koga presents a message (probably a love poem wrapped around cherry blossoms) to Okiku, wife of Oisoya. Male geishas were entertainers and attendants to high-ranking courtesans. They often delivered messages. Is the world of the pleasure district "invading" the world of respectability? What or whom is the woman looking at with such defensive anxiety? The world of the work, rank, and conventional respectability was separate from the "floating world" of Kabuki theater and the pleasure district. Japanese culture was highly compartmentalized. Wives and courtesans belonged to separate universes.



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