Pale Moon,
Cats in Season
Pale Moon, Cats in Season is a woodblock print intended to be made into an uchiwa-e, a Japanese fan that does not fold. This Ukiyo-e style print was created by the artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi a master of the Utagawa school. The print was created in 1846, during a period of censorship caused by the Tenpō Reforms. One aspect of the Tenpō Reforms targeted the lifestyle of the wealthy merchant class censoring the extravagance of the prostitution and entertainment industries like kabuki. To avoid this censorship Utagawa Kuniyoshi placed cats in the role of people. This scene depicts the Yoshiwara district of Edo, the capital of Japan, where courtesans, prostitutes and entertainers lived and worked, and townsfolk and samurai passing by on the street.
Pale Moon, Cats in Season by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Image retrieved from Kuniyoshi Project
Utagawa Kuniyoshi
Japanese artist 1798-1861
Utagawa Kuniyoshi was born Yoshisaburō to Yanagiya Kichiyemon a silk-dyer and began working for his father making patterns for silk. In 1811 he became a student of Utagawa Toyokuni of the Utagawa School to learn ukiyo-e woodblock printing. In 1814 he finished his apprenticeship and was renamed Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
As an artist he produced a staggering amount of work featuring subjects such as traditional landscapes, hero tryptichs, illustrated epic literature, kabuki actors, and geisha. He later became a master to many students. His most famous students are Yoshitoshi, Yoshitora, Yoshiiku, Yoshikazu, and Yoshitsuya.
Woodblock prints by Utagawa Kuniyoshi. Images retrieved from Kuniyoshi Project
Image Anatomy
These are some interesting features about Pale Moon, Cats in Season by Utagawa Kuniyoshi.
Artist's Signature
Signatures were carved directly into the wood blocks. Here you can see the artists signature inside a gourd shape. Below is the artist's seal "yoshi kiri" depicting the Empress Tree or Pawlonia. There are a variety of empress tree seals often used by government officials.
Title
The title おぼろ月猫の盛 or Oborozuki neko no sakari roughly translates in English to Pale Moon, Cats in Season.
Publisher's Seal
The publisher's seal indicates that Iba-ya Sensaburô was the publisher.
Date
Date seals indicated the month and the year by the Chinese zodiac. In this case the year of the horse was 1846.
A Story in the Details
Paying attention to the details can give you some insight into what is happening.
Tenugui
Tenugui is a simple cloth with many uses. They could be used to clean the hands, worn as a headband to catch sweat as shown by the litter carriers in this image, or to conceal identity by being tied around the face and fastened under the nose, as done by the cat in the bottom right corner. In storytelling tradition thieves are often depicted with a Tenugui tied comically under the nose.
Tenugui
Here you can see a young man has untied his tenugui to reveal his identity to the pretty courtesan peeking through the bars. Could they be planning to run away together? He does not have a family crest on his yukata so I imagine he is not wealthy enough to buy out her contract.
Samurai
The government discouraged samurai from visiting the Yoshiwara to avoid political intrigue. When samurai did visit they were supposed to leave their weapons at the gate before they crossed the moat into town. Here you can see that this samurai has brought his katana into the Yoshiwara. Maybe they hired him to be the bouncer. If you look at the full image you can see he has caught sight of the young lovers and is about to put a stop to their flirting.
Map Retrieved from Wikipedia
