The Floating World






Works in this room
Japanese woodblock prints of the floating world: actors, courtesans, landscapes and the sea.
Section 1, north 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 
The actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Osan, Ippei’s elder sisterTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
A Pine Tree and CamelliasNiwa Tokei, 1840Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 1, south wall

Irises at Horikiri (Horikiri no hanashobu), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
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 
Woman About to Write a PoemYashima Gakutei, c. 1824Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 2, south wall

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 sanjūrokkei)Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1830–32Courtesy of The Metropolitan 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 2, north wall

PeoniesKitagawa Utamaro, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Kanō, from the series Sixty-nine Stations of the KisokaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, c. 1835–37Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
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
Section 3, north wall

American Woman Riding Side-Saddle on the Road at Honmoku, Motomura, Yokohama (America Yokohama Motomura Honmoku michi)Utagawa Hiroshige II, 2nd month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Foreign Business Establishment in Yokohama (Yokohama ijin shōkan shashin no zu)Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, south wall

France (furansukoku)Utagawa Yoshitora, 2nd month, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Scene of Foxfire (Kitsunebi) from the Play Honchō nijūshikōYōshū (Hashimoto) Chikanobu, 1898Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Foreigners in the Drawing Room of Foreign Merchant's House in YokohamaUtagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art