The Floating World






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

England (Igirisukoku)Utagawa Yoshitora, 2nd month, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Screen and Utensils for the Incense CeremonyKubo Shunman, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Iris GardenKatsukawa Shunchô, c. 1781/89Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
Section 1, south wall

The actor Osagawa Tsuneyo II as Osan, Ippei’s elder sisterTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Paper Doll ClothingUnrecorded Japanese maker, 1897–98Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
A View of the Large New Room at SakuraiUtagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Section 2, south wall

Jihei of Kamiya Eloping with the Geisha Koharu of Kinokuniya, from the series “True Feelings Compared: The Founts of Love” (Jitsu kurabe iro no Minakami)Kitagawa Utamaro, ca. 1798–99Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
A View of the Large New Room at SakuraiUtagawa Kunisada, early or mid 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
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 2, north wall

Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor SutokuKatsukawa Shunkо̄, About 1780Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Cherry Blossoms in the WindUtagawa Toyokuni, late 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art 
Women Grating Radish for SashimiKitagawa Utamaro, ca. 1798–99Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, north wall

Plum Garden at Kameido (Kameido Umeyashiki), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1857Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago 
Illustration of a Balloon Ascending (Fūsen shōyō no zu)Utagawa Yoshitora, November, 1872Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Section 3, south wall

Incense Boxes with a Wrapping ClothKubo Shunman, 1808Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art 
Women Beside a Stream Chasing FirefliesChôbunsai Eishi, c. 1796–97Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art