The Interior of the Gankirō in Yokohama (Yokohama Gankirō mikomi no zu)
横浜岩亀楼見込之図
- Date:
- 1860
- Medium:
- Color woodblock print; ōban triptych
- Source:
- Art Institute of Chicago
Description
The Interior of the Gankirō in Yokohama (Yokohama Gankirō mikomi no zu) is one of the great Yokohama-e triptychs of the early treaty-port years, published in 1860 by Maruya Tokuzō shortly after the opening of Yokohama to foreign trade in 1859. The Gankirō was the famous foreign quarter pleasure house and tea-house complex established for the convenience — and the surveillance — of the new American, British, French, Dutch, and Russian residents of Yokohama; the building combined a Japanese-style courtesan house with rooms decorated for Western tastes, and quickly became one of the dominant subjects of the Yokohama-e print genre. Hiroshige II's ōban triptych offers a cutaway interior view: Japanese courtesans entertain Western and Chinese guests across multiple rooms of the establishment, with foreign furnishings, Japanese sliding doors, and the artist's careful attention to costume and gesture giving the print its anthropological and journalistic character. The Art Institute of Chicago impression (1925.3393) was acquired with the gift of Emily Crane Chadbourne and is one of the foundational Yokohama-e in an American collection.
More Prints by Utagawa Hiroshige II
Hase Temple, Yamato Province (Yamato Hasedera), from the series One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces (Shokoku meisho hyakkei)
諸国名所百景 大和初瀬寺
1859
Color woodblock print
Stork, Sun, and Pine
鶴日松図
c. 1839–1864
Color woodblock print
Tsūten-kyō Bridge, Tōfuku Temple, Kyoto (Kyōto Tōfukuji Tsūtenkyō bashi), from the series One Hundred Famous Views in the Various Provinces (Shokoku meisho hyakkei)
諸国名所百景 京都東福寺通天橋
1859
Color woodblock print
A Picture of Prosperity: America (Amerika shin no zu)
亜墨利加州の図
1861
Color woodblock print; ōban triptych
More Landscapes Prints
Lake Kugushi in Wakasa Province (Wakasa Kugushiko), from the series Souvenirs of Travel I (Tabi miyage dai isshu)"
Wakasa Kugushiko
1920
Color woodblock print; oban
Autumn Maple Leaves at Takao, from the album Eight Views of Kyoto (Kyôto hakkei)
Woodblock print
The Beach at Kaiganji in Sanuki Province (Sanuki Kaiganji no hama), from the series "Collection of Views of Japan II, Kansai Edition (Nihon fukei shu II Kansai hen)"
1934
Color woodblock print; oban
Tea Kettle, section of a sheet from the series "Mirror of Stone Rubbings of Views of the Provinces" (Kohon meihitsu ishizuri kagami)
n.d.
Woodblock print; ishizuri-e, section of harimaze sheet
Featured in Collections
Curated cross-cuts that include this print.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Interior of the Gankirō in Yokohama (Yokohama Gankirō mikomi no zu) (横浜岩亀楼見込之図) was created by Utagawa Hiroshige II (二代目歌川広重) in 1860.
The Interior of the Gankirō in Yokohama (Yokohama Gankirō mikomi no zu) depicts landscapes.