The Floating World





Works in this room
Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.
Section 1, north wall

France (furansukoku)Utagawa Yoshitora, 2nd month, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Yōrō Waterfall in Mino Province (Mino no Yōrō no taki), from the series A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku taki meguri)Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1832Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
The GossipsSuzuki Harunobu, ca. 1767Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 1, south wall

The Poetess Shunzei no Musume, from the series The Thirty-six Immortal Women Poets (Nishikizuri onna sanjurokkasen)Chôbunsai Eishi, Edo period (1615–1868), 1801Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Eight Modern Views of Famous Places in Tokyo of Great Japan (Dai Nippon Tokyo kaika meisho hakkei no zu)Utagawa Kunisada II (Kunimasa III, Toyokuni IV), 1875Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 2, south wall

The actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Osan, Ippei’s elder sisterTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (Shinshu Suwako), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Foreign Family with Wife Making Clothes (Gaikokujin ifuku shitate no zu)Utagawa Yoshikazu, 1860Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 2, north wall

Young man and his party crossing a stream before Mt. FujiKitagawa Utamaro, c. 1798/1800Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Screen and Utensils for the Incense CeremonyKubo Shunman, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, north wall

Scene from a PlayKatsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
“Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya,” from the series Seven Komachi of the Pleasure Quarters (Seirō Nana Komachi)Kitagawa Utamaro, ca. 1790Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
The Actor Morita Kanya VIII as TatsugorōKatsukawa Shun'ei, 1794 (Kansei 6)Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, south wall

Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)Kobayashi Kiyochika, Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Plate from the Erotic Book Mounds of Dyed Colors: A Pattern Book for the Boudoir (Someiro no yama neya no hinagata), First MonthOkumura Masanobu, ca. 1736–44Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Image of a Japanese Woman (Fujo Yamato sugata)Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III), c. 1830/35Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago