Shamisen sekai no zu (Illustration of the Shamisen World)

US$1,680.00

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Shamisen sekai no zu ["Illustration of the Shamisen World"]

[Utagawa], Yoshifuji [illustrated by].

[Japan: publisher unidentified, ca. late Edo period (1860s)?].

This aizuri-e (indigo-printed illustration) designed by Yoshifuji (1828-1887), a pupil of Kuniyoshi, shows an oiran viewing a globe of the Shamisen Sekai ("Shamisen World"). Each country or province on the globe is represented by the silhouette of a courtesan, her helper, or a customer. The captions, which would give the names of countries on a typical globe, are katakana (and thus faux-foreign) transliterations of words and phrases used in the pleasure quarters that resemble the names of foreign countries. The description to the right of the globe describes Oiranda (a parody of Ōranda (The Netherlands)) as a fire-prone den of iniquity where "telling the truth is rare as a square egg" and everyone sleeps during the day and is awake at night. The oiran views this world from the foreign land of Karitakū (a karitaku being a residence borrowed by oiran for conducting business legally when the pleasure quarters were affected by fires a common threat in an area crowded with wooden structures). A fascinating 'map' and humorous description of a real place presented as a fictional, floating, world. 

One leaf, slightly creased, extremities lightly worn and mellowed. A few minor scrapes and marks. 17.9 x 24.4 cm.

Shamisen sekai no zu (Illustration of the Shamisen World)
Price: $1,680.00 (USD)