#18. Shin-Yoshiwara

Medium:

Woodblock print

Format:

Oban

Source:

Art Gallery of Greater Victoria

Typical Price

Later reprint (Meiji–Taisho era publishers): $100–$600
Good later impression (Edo-period, worn blocks): $3,000–$12,000
Good early impression (vivid bokashi, crisp key lines): $12,000–$40,000
Fine early impression (exceptional color freshness and condition): $40,000–$100,000

From Hiroshige's One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (1856–58), a 118-print series of vertical oban landscapes and genre scenes that defined the visual image of Edo for generations. A complete set sold for $405,400 at Sotheby's Online Jul 2024.

Description

Shin-Yoshiwara, the licensed pleasure quarter of Edo rebuilt after the great fire of 1657, was laid out on a grid of broad streets lined with tea-houses and courtesans' establishments. This numbered view of the quarter likely shows the main avenue — the Nakanoch — with its lanterns, cherry trees, and the distinctive architecture of the pleasure district that was both celebrated and condemned in Edo popular culture.