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The Floating World

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

172 works · hang 875 ·

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

Walk this roomRehang this room

Section 1, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; chuban.
    Giving a Light by the Garyubai Plum TreeSuzuki Harunobu, c. 1767/68Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. Outfit for the Game of Incense, by Ryūryūkyo Shinsai, 19th century
    Outfit for the Game of IncenseRyūryūkyo Shinsai, 19th centuryCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  3. A work made of color woodblock print; oban.
    Kisegawa of the Matsubaya, from the series "Comparing the Charms of Five Beauties (Gonin bijin aikyo kurabe)"Kitagawa Utamaro, c. 1795/96Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

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. 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. 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 2, south wall

  1. Ichikawa Ebizo IV in the role of Takemura Sadanoshin, by Tōshūsai Sharaku, Probably late 1880s or early 1890s
    Ichikawa Ebizo IV in the role of Takemura SadanoshinTōshūsai Sharaku, Probably late 1880s or early 1890sCourtesy of The Metropolitan 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. 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 2, north wall

  1. A work made of color woodblock print; ōban.
    Amida Falls in the Far Reaches of the Kisokaido (Kisoji no oku Amidagataki), from the series "A Tour of Waterfalls in Various Provinces (Shokoku taki meguri)"Katsushika Hokusai, About 1833Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago
  2. A work made of color woodblock print; oban triptych.
    Picture of Men and Women from Many Countries (Bankoku danjo jinbutsu zue)Utagawa Yoshiiku, 1861Courtesy of the Art Institute of Chicago

Section 3, north wall

  1. Cherry Blossoms in the Wind, by Utagawa Toyokuni, late 1790s
    Cherry Blossoms in the WindUtagawa Toyokuni, late 1790sCourtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
  2. Evening Snow at Asuka Hill, from the series Eight Views of the Environs of Edo, by Utagawa Hiroshige, c. 1837–38
    Evening Snow at Asuka Hill, from the series Eight Views of the Environs of EdoUtagawa Hiroshige, c. 1837–38Courtesy of the Cleveland 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, south wall

  1. Kiyomizu Komachi, from the series Futabagusa nana Komachi, by Kitagawa Utamaro, 1790s
    Kiyomizu Komachi, from the series Futabagusa nana KomachiKitagawa Utamaro, 1790sCourtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
  2. 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