'Modern Edo Purple'

"Modern Edo Purple" belongs to Yoshitoshi's earliest period, produced in 1862 when he was still finding his footing as a printmaker working within the conventions established by his master Utagawa Kuniyoshi. The title evokes the fashionable color and mood of Edo's pleasure quarters at the twilight of the Tokugawa era, just as Japan stood on the brink of dramatic upheaval. Such prints served a commercial audience hungry for images of contemporary elegance and urban sophistication.