A print depicting the Tanabata festival at the Sujikai Mitsuke crossroads in Edo — the star festival of the seventh lunar month, when bamboo poles decorated with wish-bearing strips of colored paper were erected throughout the city, transforming the streets into forests of rustling color. Chikanobu's documentation of the Edo annual customs preserves a visual record of pre-modern urban festive culture: the specific dress, the specific decorations, and the specific locations that made each festival's celebration distinct from all others.
Meiji period, dated October 10, 1896
Woodblock print in "ōban" format; ink and color on paper
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
Woodblock print
広隆寺牛祭
Woodblock print
二月 (伏見稲荷大社祭)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
七月 (祇園祭山鉾巡行)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
八月 (三条大橋より大文字)
second half 20th century
Woodblock print, ink and color on paper
Annual Edo Customs: Seventh Month, Tanabata Festival at Sujikai Mitsuke Crossroads was created by Toyohara Chikanobu (豊原周延).
Annual Edo Customs: Seventh Month, Tanabata Festival at Sujikai Mitsuke Crossroads depicts summer, set at Tokyo.