Shiraito of the Hashimoto-ya

This sheet portrays Shiraito of the Hashimoto-ya, the protagonist of a tragic love story that circulated in late-Edo and Meiji popular literature and on the kabuki stage. The Hashimoto-ya was a teahouse, and Shiraito — whose name means white thread — is depicted in the elaborate uchikake and obi of a high-ranking jorō. Yoshitoshi's [bijin-ga](/glossary/bijin-ga) of named courtesans tend to combine documentary attention to the textiles, hair ornaments and accessories of the pleasure quarters with a narrative undertow, the figure carrying within her pose the foreknowledge of the story's outcome. The print would have relied on careful registration of multiple colour blocks, with [bokashi](/glossary/bokashi) to model the patterned silks and a restrained background to throw the figure forward. The work belongs to the strand of Yoshitoshi's late practice that, while still rooted in [nishiki-e](/glossary/nishiki-e) tradition, read its female subjects as individuals rather than as types.