Utagawa Hiroshige, View of the Saruwaka Street by Night, 1856

This image: https://kunisada-and-kabuki.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/themes/saruwaka-street

For over two hundred years Japan was sealed off from most direct foreign contacts. This is known as the Edo Period (1603 – 1868). It is named after the political capital – later renamed Tokyo – which had already over a million inhabitants at the dawn of the nineteenth century. It was home to the 'floating world', a pleasure district of Kabuki theatres and brothels. It was a place of sensory experiences, of hedonism and transgression.

Documenting, describing and promoting this world – and a million other worlds real and imagined – were the writers and artists who sold their work in the form of woodblock prints and cheap guidebooks by the thousand. Their output was considered disposable at the time. Today, however, the best of these artists are considered masters, and their work has had a profound and lasting impact both in Japan and in the West.

We will trace the development of this art form, and take a lingering look at the three 'greats': Utamaro, Hiroshige, and Hokusai.

RJW F222326 Online freelance course (via Zoom)

A 5-hour short course, delivered via 2 x 2½-hour sessions on consecutive Saturdays (Saturday 4 & Saturday 11 February, 10.30-1.00).

£40 (individual registration); £72 (for two people sharing one screen).