Konami of the Kurahashiya in the Front Group of Musicians (Saki-bayashi), from the series Costume Parade of the Shinmachi Quarter in Osaka (Ōsaka Shinmachi nerimono)

A woodblock print of 1822 in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also from the Costume Parade of the Shinmachi Quarter in Osaka (Ōsaka Shinmachi nerimono) series, this design depicts Konami of the Kurahashiya identified with the front group of musicians (saki-bayashi) — the leading band of drummers and flute-players who opened the procession. The saki-bayashi role set the rhythm for the parade behind it, and the assignment of a top-ranked named courtesan to it carried both honorific and practical weight: a star of the quarter was leading the procession with her music. The series documents the specific roles assigned to specific named courtesans in a specific year's nerimono procession, functioning simultaneously as celebrity portraiture, fashion catalogue, and event record for the Shinmachi quarter's patrons. The format is vertical ōban — taller than the [surimono](/glossary/surimono) [shikishiban](/glossary/shikishiban) — and the design gives Konami a full-length presentation with the procession costume rendered in detail. The Met's impression, acquired in 2020, is among the highlights of the museum's nineteenth-century surimono and [ukiyo-e](/glossary/ukiyo-e) holdings.