Hokusai's genre scenes, bijin-ga (beautiful women), and miscellaneous subjects represent the breadth of his career across more than seven decades. The market for non-landscape Hokusai prints has strengthened as collectors seek beyond the most famous designs.
The Yoshiwara licensed pleasure district of Edo — the walled enclave north of Asakusa that housed the city's officially sanctioned entertainment industry — is depicted in this print from Hokusai's mid-1780s series of fashionable places. Yoshiwara was both a geographic location and a cultural universe, its seasons, festivals, and hierarchies constituting a parallel civic life that generated enormous quantities of art, fiction, and popular entertainment.

1821
Color woodblock print with metallic pigments; surimono shikishiban

1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

1822
Color woodblock print; shikishiban, surimono

c. 1832
Color woodblock print; oban

Woodblock print

1928
Color lithograph

1930
Color lithograph

1948
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Yoshiwara was created by Katsushika Hokusai (葛飾北斎) in 1785-1787.
Yoshiwara depicts urban scenes, bijin-ga, and night scenes.