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The Floating World

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

172 works · hang 5117 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. “America”: Enjoying Hot Air Balloons, by Utagawa Yoshitora, 1867
    “America”: Enjoying Hot Air BalloonsUtagawa Yoshitora, 1867Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. 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

Section 1, south wall

  1. Ōtsu, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi, Ōtsu), 1847–52
    Ōtsu, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō Road (Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi, Ōtsu)Unrecorded Japanese maker, 1847–52Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Shimosuwa, from Sixty-Nine Stations of the Kisokaidō, by Utagawa Hiroshige, 1835–38
    Shimosuwa, from Sixty-Nine Stations of the KisokaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, 1835–38Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print.
    Actor Onoe Matsusuke I as Retired Emperor SutokuKatsukawa Shunkо̄, About 1780Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. Kabuki Actors Asao Yūjirō as Sano Genzaemon and Ichikawa Ebijūrō I as Miura Arajirō, in the play Keisei Sano no Funabashi, by Shunkōsai Hokushū, 1822
    Kabuki Actors Asao Yūjirō as Sano Genzaemon and Ichikawa Ebijūrō I as Miura Arajirō, in the play Keisei Sano no FunabashiShunkōsai Hokushū, 1822Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida River, by Kitagawa Utamaro, c. 1800
    Net Fishing at Night on the Sumida RiverKitagawa Utamaro, c. 1800Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  3. 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

Section 2, north wall

  1. The Shika Teahouse, by Utagawa Toyokuni, early 1790s
    The Shika TeahouseUtagawa Toyokuni, early 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Tobacco Pouch and Pipe, by Kubo Shunman, 1813
    Tobacco Pouch and PipeKubo Shunman, 1813Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; uchiwa-e.
    Iwai Kumesaburo II as the Courtesan Takao in Banzei Okuni KabukiUtagawa Kunisada, c. 1827Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of woodblock print, ink and colors on paper.
    Kanagawa in Musashi Province: Distant View of Yokohama (Yokohama enbo), from the series Calligraphy and Pictures for the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Shoga gojusan eki)Utagawa Yoshimori, 1982Courtesy 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
  3. 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 color woodblock prints; oban triptych.
    A Windy Day under the Cherry TreesUtagawa Toyokuni, c. 1797Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago