Ochre Editions
SearchSign inCart (0)

The Floating World

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

172 works · hang 1314 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. Miyako Shell, by Katsushika Hokusai, probably 1821
    Miyako ShellKatsushika Hokusai, probably 1821Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Foreign Business Establishment in Yokohama (Yokohama ijin shōkan uriba no zu), by Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861
    Foreign Business Establishment in Yokohama (Yokohama ijin shōkan uriba no zu)Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    The actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Osan, Ippei’s elder sisterTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. Segawa Tomisaburō II as Yadorigi in the Play "Hana Ayame Bunroku Soga", by Tōshūsai Sharaku, 1794
    Segawa Tomisaburō II as Yadorigi in the Play "Hana Ayame Bunroku Soga"Tōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Snowy Morning from Koishikawa (Koishikawa yuki no ashita), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Foreigners in the Drawing Room of Foreign Merchant's House in Yokohama, by Utagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861
    Foreigners in the Drawing Room of Foreign Merchant's House in YokohamaUtagawa (Gountei) Sadahide, 9th month, 1861Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, south wall

  1. Scene from a Play, by Katsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780
    Scene from a PlayKatsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. 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
  3. The Actor Onoye Matsusuke as a Ronin, by Tōshūsai Sharaku
    The Actor Onoye Matsusuke as a RoninTōshūsai SharakuCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    Viewing the MoonSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. “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
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Three Beauties of Our Time (Tosei san bijin)Chokosai Eisho, n.d.Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. 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), by Katsushika Hokusai, ca. 1830–32
    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
  2. 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 3, south wall

  1. 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
  2. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; tan-e, vertical o-oban.
    Courtesan WalkingKaigetsudo Anchi, c. 1714Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago