Floor plan

North wing: East AsiaThe Floating World

The Floating World

A work made of page from a color woodblock-printed volume.
A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji: The Surface of Lake Misaka in Kai Province, by Katsushika Hokusai, early 1830s
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.
A work made of color woodblock print; chūban.
A work made of color woodblock print; oban.

The works in this room are listed below.

Works in this room

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

Section 1, north wall

  1. A work made of page from a color woodblock-printed volume.
    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
  2. 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
  3. Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji: The Surface of Lake Misaka in Kai Province, by Katsushika Hokusai, early 1830s
    Thirty-Six Views of Mt. Fuji: The Surface of Lake Misaka in Kai ProvinceKatsushika Hokusai, early 1830sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art

Section 1, south wall

  1. 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
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; chūban.
    Searching for FirefliesSuzuki Harunobu, 1768Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Sazai Hall at the Temple of the Five Hundred Arhats (Gohyakurakanji Sazaido), from the series "Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)"Katsushika Hokusai, c. 1830/33Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, south wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; long surimono.
    Plants, Porcelain Bowl, and Glass GobletKatsukawa Shunshō, c. 1789Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    One Person, Six Expressions (Hitori rokumenso)Kobayashi Kiyochika, 1884Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 2, north wall

  1. A work made of woodblock print; sumizuri-e, kakemono-e.
    Standing BeautyKaigetsudo Anchi, About 1714Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. France (furansukoku), by Utagawa Yoshitora, 2nd month, 1865
    France (furansukoku)Utagawa Yoshitora, 2nd month, 1865Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; uchiwa-e.
    Morning Glories, Pinks, and Maiden Flower, from the series "Seven Autumn Flowers in Moonlight"Utagawa Hiroshige, 1830/44Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. A work made of hand-colored woodblock print; toku-oban, urushi-e.
    Courtesan Reading a LetterIshikawa Toyonobu, c. 1745Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    Two Young Women Playing Cat's CradleIsoda Koryusai, c. 1769Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  3. Lovers Walking in the Snow (Crow and Heron), by Suzuki Harunobu, 1764–72
    Lovers Walking in the Snow (Crow and Heron)Suzuki Harunobu, 1764–72Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Section 3, south wall

  1. Nissaka: The Night-Weeping Stone at Sayo no Nakayama, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō, by Utagawa Hiroshige, c. 1848–50
    Nissaka: The Night-Weeping Stone at Sayo no Nakayama, from the series The Fifty-Three Stations of the TōkaidōUtagawa Hiroshige, c. 1848–50Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Two Girls on a Veranda beside a Stream with the Moon, by Suzuki Harunobu
    Two Girls on a Veranda beside a Stream with the MoonSuzuki HarunobuCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art