![Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) by Kitano Tsunetomi — Japanese Woodblock print](https://data.ukiyo-e.org/scholten/images/27a918e97d120f577f6e1a4390588574.jpg)
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae)
- Medium:
- Woodblock print
- Format:
- Oban
- Publisher:
- Watanabe Shozaburo
- Source:
- Scholten Japanese Art
Description
The final print in Tsunetomi's "Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters" series completes the cycle with winter in the Shinchi district, where a woman sits before a mirror. The Japanese subtitle "Kagami no mae" (before the mirror) returns to the reflective, introspective subject that opens the series' thematic arc. Winter, as the season of endings and withdrawal, suits this self-examining moment. The four prints together create a comprehensive portrait of life in Osaka's pleasure quarters: autumn's physical sensuality (after a bath), spring's disciplined preparation (during a lesson), summer's atmospheric transition (twilight), and winter's quiet self-contemplation (before a mirror). Tsunetomi conceived the series as a unified work, with each season assigned to a different district, creating a map of the pleasure-quarter world that is simultaneously geographic, temporal, and emotional.
More Prints by Kitano Tsunetomi
More Snow Scenes Prints
Fair Weather After Snow at Yamato Bridge, Kyoto (Yamato bashi no yukibare), Taishô period, dated 1924
Woodblock print
The Compound of the Tenman Shrine at Kameido in the Snow (Kameido Tenmangu keidai no yuki), from the series "Famous Places in the Eastern Capital (Toto meisho)"
c. 1832/38
Color woodblock print; oban
Miyajima in Snow (Yuki no Miyajima)
Yuki no Miyajima
1929
Color woodblock print; oban
Evening Snow at Shiha Park, Tokyo
1932
Woodblock print
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) was created by Kitano Tsunetomi (北野恒富).
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) was published by Watanabe Shozaburo.
Seasons of the Pleasure Quarters: no. 4, Shinchi in Winter, Before the Mirror (Kuruwa no shunju: Dai-yon, fuyu [Shinchi], Kagami no mae) depicts snow scenes and winter.