Fishing Pond

This print from the Showa Shokugyo Emaki records the proprietor or attendant of a tsuribori, the small commercial fishing pond stocked with carp and goldfish where city-dwellers paid by the hour to fish. The composition typically arranges figures at the railing of a rectangular pond, rods angled into the water, with the attendant nearby tending nets, buckets, or the small wooden hut from which tackle is rented. Wada Sanzo treats the scene with the level, observational gaze characteristic of the series — flat planes of colour for the still surface of the water, firm linework for the rods and figures, and a contained palette that suits the urban-recreational setting. The mokuhanga technique, with its successive impressions from carved blocks onto washi, lends the water and reflections a softness distinct from the harder edges of the wooden surround. The print belongs to a group of designs in the series concerned with leisure occupations — bathhouse attendants, masseurs, billiard markers — through which Wada extends his survey of Showa labour beyond production into the trades of relaxation.