Ochre Editions
SearchSign inCart (0)

The Floating World

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

172 works · hang 9922 ·

The rooms are imagined; every work on their walls is real.

Walk this roomRehang this room

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 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
  3. Young Woman Looking at a Pot of Pinks, by Suzuki Harunobu, c. 1767
    Young Woman Looking at a Pot of PinksSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1767Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; vertical oban diptych.
    Image of a Japanese Woman (Fujo Yamato sugata)Utagawa Kunisada I (Toyokuni III), c. 1830/35Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Outfit for the Game of Incense, by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai, 19th century
    Outfit for the Game of IncenseRyūryūkyo Shinsai, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Tsuten-kyo Bridge, Tofuku Temple, Kyoto (Kyoto Tofukuji Tsutenkyo bashi) from the series “One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces (Shokoku meisho hyakkei)”Utagawa Hiroshige II, 1859Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. Anekawa Daisuke as Ayame-no-mae, by Torii Kiyomitsu, 1760
    Anekawa Daisuke as Ayame-no-maeTorii Kiyomitsu, 1760Courtesy 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
  3. Fudō Myōō Threatening a Novice, by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1885
    Fudō Myōō Threatening a NoviceTsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1885Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro IV in a "Shibaraku" Role, Possibly from the Play Ima o Sakari Suehiro Genji (The Genji Clan Now at Its Zenith), Performed at the Nakamura Theater from the First Day of the Eleventh Month, 1768Katsukawa Shunshō, c. 1768Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Fireworks at Ryōgoku (Ryōgoku hanabi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)Utagawa Hiroshige, 1858Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
    Catching FirefliesEishosai Choki, c.1790sCourtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    Delaying the announcement of dawnSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Kabuki Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko Edobei, by Tōshūsai Sharaku, 1794
    Kabuki Actor Ōtani Oniji III as Yakko EdobeiTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series "Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)"Kitagawa Utamaro, c. 1795/96Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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