The Ninth Month (Kikuzuki), from the series "Fashionable Twelve Months (Furyu juni tsuki)"

From Koryusai's series Furyu juni tsuki (Fashionable Twelve Months), held by the Art Institute of Chicago and dated to about 1770 to 1772, this small-format koban print represents the ninth month, kikuzuki, the month of chrysanthemums. The ninth month, with its association with the Chrysanthemum Festival (Choyo no sekku) celebrated on the ninth day, was traditionally the autumn high point of the floral calendar, and Edo households marked it with chrysanthemum-themed clothing, tea, and decoration. Koryusai's design situates a fashionable young woman within the seasonal motif of the chrysanthemum, the koban format compressing the composition to a tightly distilled figural and floral study. The series, one of multiple twelve-months projects in Koryusai's output, exemplifies his sustained engagement with the Japanese calendrical year as a scaffolding for fashionable bijin-ga.