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Hanga

A free platform for exploring Japanese woodblock prints from the shin-hanga, sosaku-hanga, and ukiyo-e traditions.

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Interior of a Brothel by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi — Japanese Woodblock Print | Hanga

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Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
Interior of a Brothel

Interior of a Brothel

by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi

Meiji/Taishō Prints Ukiyo-e

Interiors

Date:: 1870
Medium:: Woodblock print
Format:: Oban
Source:: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Typical Price

Scarce or exceptional Yoshitoshi composition in fine condition: $1,500–$8,000
Good condition print: $400–$1,500
Later impression or common subject: $200–$600

Description

"Interior of a Brothel" (1870) presents a frank panoramic view of one of Edo's licensed pleasure houses in transition—the establishment now operating in Meiji Tokyo rather than under Tokugawa jurisdiction. The print provides unusual architectural and social detail, showing the compartmentalized interior spaces and the women who worked within them with a documentary directness unusual in commercial woodblock printing. Yoshitoshi's engagement with the pleasure quarter was lifelong and multifaceted, oscillating between aesthetic celebration and unflinching social observation.