Ten Views of Mt. Fuji from Edo: The Ochanomizu District

The depiction of beautiful women 美人画 (bijin-ga) was a principal genre of Japanese prints. While this print’s title focuses on the geography of Edo (modern Tokyo), it is the elegantly-dressed woman who is the true focus of the print. She is surrounded by lively streets, and the iconic scenery of Mount Fuji behind her, yet our attention focuses on the various patterned layers of her robes and the lively expression on her face. The Utagawa school was one of the central printmaking studios producing “images of the floating world” 浮世絵 (ukiyo-e) for the middle classes of Tokyo. Prints like this adopt rules of perspective from Western images to create deep space in the scene. At the same time, Western artists, especially the Impressionists, appropriated ideas from prints like these to enhance flatness and pattern in their own works. -Written by Lilia Theobald