Shoshoku ekagami

Shoshoku ekagami (Mirror of Pictures of Various Occupations), a woodblock-printed book of 1795 held by the Art Institute of Chicago, is one of Kitao Masayoshi's most celebrated illustrated books and a landmark in the Edo tradition of compendium pictures of trades. The title - shoshoku meaning "various occupations," ekagami meaning "mirror of pictures" - announces an encyclopedic project: a survey of the working life of Edo Japan, depicting artisans, merchants, performers, and laborers at their characteristic tasks. Each occupation is rendered with attention to the specific tools, postures, and gestures of the trade, providing both a visual sourcebook and a substantial ethnographic record of late eighteenth-century Japanese material culture. The 1795 date is significant: this is also the year of the founding Ryakugashiki, marking 1795 as a remarkable pivot in Masayoshi's career when he was simultaneously establishing the abbreviated sketch-album format and producing more elaborate illustrated books on specialized subjects. Shoshoku ekagami builds on the earlier Edo tradition of shokunin zukushi pictures but updates it with the Kitao-school combination of careful observation and confident line. The Art Institute of Chicago's holding is an indispensable reference for scholars of Edo crafts, trades, and daily life as well as for students of Masayoshi's printed output.