Looking cool: the appearance of a geisha in the 5th or 6th year of Meiji (1872-73)
- Medium:
- Mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock)
- Image courtesy of
- Saru Gallery
"Looking cool" (suzushi-sō) belongs to Fūzoku sanjūni sō (Thirty-two Aspects of Customs and Manners), Yoshitoshi's 1888 [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) series that pairs each woman with a single descriptive emotional or sensory state and places her in a specific historical era. This sheet shows a geisha located in the early Meiji years (1872-73), a moment when traditional pleasure-quarter attire was beginning to coexist with imported Western fashion. The composition isolates the figure against a plain ground, characteristic of the series, with attention to the patterning of her summer kimono and a fan or cooling gesture that justifies the title. The series relies on careful [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) gradation in the hair and obi to create depth without distracting detail. Within Yoshitoshi's broader output, Fūzoku sanjūni sō stands alongside his Tsuki hyakushi as the project of a mature artist consolidating [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) bijin-ga conventions while documenting a world that was disappearing under Meiji modernization.
1888
Color woodblock print; oban
n.d.
Color woodblock print
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Looking cool: the appearance of a geisha in the 5th or 6th year of Meiji (1872-73) was created by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (月岡芳年).
Looking cool: the appearance of a geisha in the 5th or 6th year of Meiji (1872-73) depicts bijin-ga.
