The First Work in the New Year (Saiko hajime)

The First Work in the New Year (Saiko hajime), a sheet from a surimono album in the Art Institute of Chicago, captures one of the most resonant occasions in the Edo calendar: the ritual first day back at work after the New Year holidays, when craftspeople and artisans formally resumed their professions with auspicious ceremony. Like many surimono produced for the New Year, this print would have been commissioned by a kyoka circle as a greeting to its members, the seasonal subject doubling as a wish for fruitful work in the coming year. Shunman's image, executed in the elegantly muted palette typical of his 1790s surimono, likely depicts a craftsman or merchant ceremonially beginning his year's work, with the kyoka poems above commenting on themes of beginning, diligence, and seasonal renewal. The shikishiban format - smaller than the commercial oban but printed with extreme care - encouraged close, almost contemplative reading, and the inclusion of the print in an album signals that it was meant to be revisited and savored over time. The Saiko hajime tradition was particularly meaningful to artisans and was widely observed across Edo's trades; for the kyoka circles, the occasion offered a natural opportunity for poetic exchange. The Art Institute of Chicago's surimono album collection preserves several Shunman prints of this type, and Saiko hajime is among the more straightforward in its iconography, anchoring the album's seasonal cycle.