Ukiyo-e prints recorded the celebrated courtesans of the Yoshiwara district, actors performing at the Kabuki theater, sumo wrestlers, genteel domestic scenes, picnic outings in the country, and tourists visiting scenic sites. Utamaro specialized in depicting women: well-known courtesans, celebrated beauties of the day, and unknown, ordinary women engaged in their daily activities. The audience for these eroticized and idealized portraits was a rising urban middle class, including those from Edo (now Tokyo), with money to spend on luxuries, like these works of art, which captured the transitory pleasures of life. This print: Yaoya Oshichi, Koshô Kichisaburô, Dozaemon Denkichi = [Oshichi the greengrocer's daughter, Kichisaburô the boy-servant and Dozaemon Denkichi]. Digital ID: 416410. NY Public Library Digital Gallery

Natori Shunsen Japanese 1886–1960 The actor Nakamura Ganjiro from the Collection of Shunsen portraits series, 1925, Tokyo, Japan colour woodblock 38.2 x 26.0 cm (image)

A woodcut from the play, “A Medley of Tales of Revenge,” by Toshusai Sharaku

Natori Shunsen Japanese 1886–1960 The actor Nakamura Ganjiro from the Collection of Shunsen portraits series, 1925, Tokyo, Japan colour woodblock 38.2 x 26.0 cm (image)