View of the Yokohama Pleasure Quarters of Kanagawa at Cherry Blossom Time
- Date:
- 2nd month, 1860
- Medium:
- Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
- Source:
- Metropolitan Museum of Art
This [triptych](/glossary/triptych) of woodblock prints by Utagawa Sadahide, dated to the second month of 1860 and held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (accession number 2007.49.108a-c), depicts the Yokohama pleasure quarters at cherry blossom time. Each of the three sheets measures roughly 37.5 by 25.1 cm, and together they form a sweeping panoramic view of the Miyozaki yūkaku — the licensed pleasure quarter that was established in Yokohama soon after the port's opening to provide entertainment for foreign visitors and Japanese residents alike. Sadahide depicts the quarter under cherry blossoms, populating the scene with courtesans in Japanese dress, Western visitors, and the elaborate architecture of the tea houses and entertainment establishments. The composition draws on the long Edo tradition of pleasure-quarter prints (associated above all with the Yoshiwara of Edo) and adapts it to the new Yokohama setting, where the encounter between foreigners and Japanese pleasure culture had immediately become an object of curiosity and commentary. The cherry-blossom setting links the print to the Japanese tradition of seasonal celebration while documenting a wholly new social phenomenon — the foreign-frequented pleasure quarter — that had emerged only in the months immediately preceding the print's publication. The triptych is part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's major holding of Sadahide's Yokohama work.
9th month, 1861
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
3rd month, 1860
Triptych of woodblock prints; ink and color on paper
c. 1830s-60s
Ink on paper
神奈川横浜新開港図
2nd month, 1860
Triptych of woodblock prints (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper
View of the Yokohama Pleasure Quarters of Kanagawa at Cherry Blossom Time was created by Utagawa Sadahide (歌川貞秀) in 2nd month, 1860.
View of the Yokohama Pleasure Quarters of Kanagawa at Cherry Blossom Time depicts spring.
