TORIDORI

Toridori (とりどり) in Japanese suggests variety, assortment, or a colorful multiplicity — a title that may refer to a market scene, a gathering of seasonal goods, or a streetscape animated by varied commercial signage. Alternatively, the word can evoke birds (tori) in plural. If depicting a market or shopping street, Nishijima would have had rich material: stacked produce, hanging goods, painted boards, and the layered signage of long-established merchants. The compositional challenge of such a subject — organizing visual diversity without chaos — would suit the woodblock medium's capacity for flat, clearly differentiated areas of color. The title's playful sound quality suggests a lighter register than Nishijima's more somber seasonal subjects.