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Katsukawa Shunsen
Japanese, 1762 - c.1830
A Depiction of the Life of Common People on the Ryogoko Bridge
Crossing the Sumida River East of Downtown Edo, c. 1804-20
Published by Izumi Ichibei
Nishiki-e (color woodblock print)
Oban format, triptych
Museum Collection
Although Shunsen produced good work, mostly after the death of
Utamaro, this particular image was printed from old worn blocks,
and perhaps rather crudely drawn by a pupil. But it is
brilliantly lusty and shows the colorful mingling of classes of
people that existed in the entertainment district of Edo but
rarely elsewhere in feudal Japan. There are courtesans both high
and low, street vendors and entertainers, and somewhat more
respectable types. The boy with the drum may be drumming up
trade. There is a trained monkey and a man with a traveling
concession. In this print, we get an overview of the vitality
which allowed Ukiyo-e to exist in spite of the numbing effect of
petrified hierarchies.
Under the fireworks and over the river, women and men create a
synergistic relentless vitality, when brought together despite
differences in rank and gender. The scene is almost Elizabethan
in the excitement of its variety of types-as if a hierarchical
society could especially dramatize the headiness of human mixing.
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