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The Floating World

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

172 works · hang 3797 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. Perspective Pictures for The Treasure House of Loyalty, by Kitao Masayoshi, c. 1790s
    Perspective Pictures for The Treasure House of LoyaltyKitao Masayoshi, c. 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Passengers in a Ferry Boat on the Sumida River, by Torii Kiyonaga, 1784
    Passengers in a Ferry Boat on the Sumida RiverTorii Kiyonaga, 1784Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; vertical oban diptych, sumizuri-e.
    The Actor Onoe Kikugoro I holding a puppet of the Actor Sanogawa Ichimatsu IIshikawa Toyonobu, c. 1740sCourtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 1, south wall

  1. 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
  2. The Actor Segawa Tomisaburo II as the Otomos' Maid Wakakusa, Actually Prince Korehito, by Tōshūsai Sharaku, 1794–75
    The Actor Segawa Tomisaburo II as the Otomos' Maid Wakakusa, Actually Prince KorehitoTōshūsai Sharaku, 1794–75Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. 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

Section 2, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono.
    Distant View of Mount Fuji at Dawn from HakoneUtagawa Kuniyoshi, c. 1828/30Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. 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
  3. Scene from a Play, by Katsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780
    Scene from a PlayKatsukawa Shunjō, ca. 1780Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 2, north wall

  1. Numazu Ki Kure, by Utagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1834
    Numazu Ki KureUtagawa Hiroshige, ca. 1834Courtesy 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
  3. Cherry Shell, from the series Genroku Poetry Shell Games, by Katsushika Hokusai, probably 1821
    Cherry Shell, from the series Genroku Poetry Shell GamesKatsushika Hokusai, probably 1821Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor SutokuKatsukawa Shunkо̄, About 1780Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Lake Suwa in Shinano Province (Shinshu Suwako), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
    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
  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