The Floating World






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

Two Young Women Playing Cat's CradleIsoda Koryusai, c. 1769Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Sei Shonagon, from the series Ancient Patterns (Kodai moyo)Kobayashi Kiyochika, Meiji period (1896–1912), 1896Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
The Actors Otani Hiroji III as Yokambei (right), Nakamura Tomijuro I as Kuzunoha (center), and Bando Mitsugoro I as Yakambei (left), in the Last Scene from the Play Shinodazuma (The Wife from Shinoda Forest), Performed as a Supplement to the Play Kikyo-zome Onna Urakata (Female Diviner in Deep Violet), at the Morita Theater from the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month, 1776Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1776Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 1, south wall

Incense Boxes with a Wrapping ClothKubo Shunman, 1808Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Viewing the MoonSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
The Shika TeahouseUtagawa Toyokuni, early 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 2, south wall

Nissaka: The Night-Weeping Stone at Sayo no Nakayama, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the TōkaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, c. 1848–50Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
Scene of Foxfire (Kitsunebi) from the Play Honchō nijūshikōYōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu, 1898Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Anekawa Daisuke as Ayame-no-maeTorii Kiyomitsu, 1760Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 2, north wall

Kinryūsan Temple at Asakusa, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1856Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Tobacco Pouch and PipeKubo Shunman, 1813Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, north wall

Kingfisher and Chinese BellflowersUtagawa Hiroshige, early or mid-1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
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
Section 3, south wall

Kabuki Actor Nakamura Utaemon III as the Sword Master Kyōgoku Takumi, from the series Issei ichidai atari Kyōgen (Hits of a Lifetime of Kyōgen)Shunkōsai Hokushū, 1825Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Russians Enjoying a Holiday in Yokohama (Yokohama kyūjitsu Roshiajin yūkō)Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art