Floor plan

North wing: East AsiaThe Floating World

The Floating World

Foreign Family with Wife Making Clothes (Gaikokujin ifuku shitate no zu), by Utagawa Yoshikazu, 1860
A Girl Writing a Letter, by Suzuki Harunobu, 18th century
“Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya,” from the series Seven Komachi of the Pleasure Quarters (Seirō Nana Komachi), by Kitagawa Utamaro, ca. 1790
Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the Nurse, by Katsushika Hokusai, 1835–36
Passengers in a Ferry Boat on the Sumida River, by Torii Kiyonaga, 1784
Matsumoto Koshiro IV as the Fish Peddler Gorobei, by Tōshūsai Sharaku, Probably late 1880s or early 1890s

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.

Section 1, north wall

  1. Foreign Family with Wife Making Clothes (Gaikokujin ifuku shitate no zu), by Utagawa Yoshikazu, 1860
    Foreign Family with Wife Making Clothes (Gaikokujin ifuku shitate no zu)Utagawa Yoshikazu, 1860Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A Girl Writing a Letter, by Suzuki Harunobu, 18th century
    A Girl Writing a LetterSuzuki Harunobu, 18th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. “Hanamurasaki of the Tamaya,” from the series Seven Komachi of the Pleasure Quarters (Seirō Nana Komachi), by Kitagawa Utamaro, ca. 1790
    “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

Section 1, south wall

  1. Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the Nurse, by Katsushika Hokusai, 1835–36
    Poem by Minamoto no Muneyuki from the series One Hundred Poems by One Hundred Poets Explained by the NurseKatsushika Hokusai, 1835–36Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Passengers in a Ferry Boat on the Sumida River, by Torii Kiyonaga, 1784
    Passengers in a Ferry Boat on the Sumida RiverTorii Kiyonaga, 1784Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Matsumoto Koshiro IV as the Fish Peddler Gorobei, by Tōshūsai Sharaku, Probably late 1880s or early 1890s
    Matsumoto Koshiro IV as the Fish Peddler GorobeiTōshūsai Sharaku, Probably late 1880s or early 1890sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. Kanagawa, Inland Sea: Top of the Street, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1797–1858
    Kanagawa, Inland Sea: Top of the StreetUtagawa Hiroshige, 1797–1858Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. A work made of woodblock print; sumizuri-e, kakemono-e.
    Standing BeautyKaigetsudo Anchi, About 1714Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Osumi, a Tayu of the Tsuchiya in the Shinmachi Quarter in OsakaEishosai Choki, c. 1796/97Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
    Awa Province: Naruto Whirlpools (Awa, Naruto no fūha), from the series Famous Places in the Sixty-Odd Provinces (Rokujūyoshmeisho zue)Utagawa Hiroshige, 1855Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River, by Kitagawa Utamaro, c. 1800
    Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida RiverKitagawa Utamaro, c. 1800Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. The Doll Festival, Third Day of the Third Month, by Kubo Shunman, 19th century
    The Doll Festival, Third Day of the Third MonthKubo Shunman, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. Shimosuwa, from Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1835–38
    Shimosuwa, from Sixty-Nine Stations of the KisokaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, 1835–38Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Scene of Foxfire (Kitsunebi) from the Play Honchō nijūshikō, by Yōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu, 1898
    Scene of Foxfire (Kitsunebi) from the Play Honchō nijūshikōYōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu, 1898Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. Grasshopper and Iris, by Katsushika Hokusai, late 1820s
    Grasshopper and IrisKatsushika Hokusai, late 1820sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Xu You and Chao Fu, by Okumura Masanobu, 18th century
    Xu You and Chao FuOkumura Masanobu, 18th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art