Floor plan

North wing: East AsiaThe Floating World

The Floating World

Plate from the Erotic Book Mounds of Dyed Colors: A Pattern Book for the Boudoir (Someiro no yama neya no hinagata), First Month, by Okumura Masanobu, ca. 1736–44
A work made of page from a color woodblock-printed volume.
Print showing a string of travelers with horses walking along a narrow hillside path beneath an enormous craggy beige mountain at left and an equally massive and craggy deep-blue mountain at right. A brown snow-covered peak appears between these mountains. A mass of cream-colored clouds and a river with rounded ripples fill the middle plane of the composition.
A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Gorō, by Katsukawa Shunkō, 1779
Leftmost Print from Pleasure Boats on the Sumida River beneath Shin-Ōhashi Bridge, by Chôbunsai Eishi, c. 1792

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. Plate from the Erotic Book Mounds of Dyed Colors: A Pattern Book for the Boudoir (Someiro no yama neya no hinagata), First Month, by Okumura Masanobu, ca. 1736–44
    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
  2. A work made of page from a color woodblock-printed volume.
    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
  3. Print showing a string of travelers with horses walking along a narrow hillside path beneath an enormous craggy beige mountain at left and an equally massive and craggy deep-blue mountain at right. A brown snow-covered peak appears between these mountains. A mass of cream-colored clouds and a river with rounded ripples fill the middle plane of the composition.
    The Back of Mount Fuji Seen from Minobu River (Minobugawa Urafuji), from the series Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)Katsushika Hokusai, 1830-33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    The Poetess Ono no KomachiSuzuki Harunobu, Edo period (1615–1868), 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no Gorō, by Katsukawa Shunkō, 1779
    Ichikawa Monnosuke II as Soga no GorōKatsukawa Shunkō, 1779Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. Leftmost Print from Pleasure Boats on the Sumida River beneath Shin-Ōhashi Bridge, by Chôbunsai Eishi, c. 1792
    Leftmost Print from Pleasure Boats on the Sumida River beneath Shin-Ōhashi BridgeChôbunsai Eishi, c. 1792Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. A Girl Writing a Letter, by Suzuki Harunobu, 18th century
    A Girl Writing a LetterSuzuki Harunobu, 18th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Ōtsu, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi, Ōtsu), 1847–52
    Ōtsu, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi, Ōtsu)Unrecorded Japanese maker, 1847–52Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A View of the Large New Room at Sakurai, by Utagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830s
    A View of the Large New Room at SakuraiUtagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. Miyako Shell, by Katsushika Hokusai, probably 1821
    Miyako ShellKatsushika Hokusai, probably 1821Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Numazu Ki Kure, by Utagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1834
    Numazu Ki KureUtagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1834Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei), by Suzuki Harunobu, ca. 1766
    Night Rain at the Double-Shelf Stand, from the series Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei)Suzuki Harunobu, ca. 1766Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro V Performing a Shibaroku Act with a Drawn Sword in His Hand, by Katsukawa Shunshō, ca. 1781
    The Actor Ishikawa Danjuro V Performing a Shibaroku Act with a Drawn Sword in His HandKatsukawa Shunshō, ca. 1781Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. “Hour of the Rat: Mistress,” from the series Women’s Daily Customs (Fuzoku bijin tokei), by Kitagawa Utamaro, 1790
    “Hour of the Rat: Mistress,” from the series Women’s Daily Customs (Fuzoku bijin tokei)Kitagawa Utamaro, 1790Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, south 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. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    The Ninth Month, from the series Five Amorous Festivals of Love (Aibore iro no gosekku)Kitagawa Utamaro, 1801Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago