ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM 13 Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉 (Japanese, 1790–1848) AgeoStation: theKamoShrine, no. 6 fromthe series ASet of Pictures of Kisokaidō, 1835 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.854A Winnowing rice grains, a process that removes inedible hulls from the edible grain, was most simply done by pouring the rice out of a scoop-like basket and letting the wind blow the hulls away. Other methods used a special device called a mangoku tōshi 万石通し (shown in the foreground), the most advanced winnowing tool in the Edo period. It was a frame with a large, round drum attached to a central handle. Look closely and you can see a woman pouring rice into the opening at the top. When she cranked the handle, the drum rotated and created a strong airflow that blew the heavier rice apart from the lighter hulls. Both emerged separately below. The device was too expensive for most farms, but in this print we see an enterprising roadside shop that made it available to local farmers, probably taking a portion of the rice in trade. Even the rice hulls were not wasted, but used for things such as pillow stuffing or as an abrasive for scrubbing and polishing. Finally, the hulls ended up as fuel or compost for the fields. Below: KatsushikaHokusai 葛飾北斎 (Japanese, 1760–1849) FarmersHarvestingRice in theCountryside, 1799 Color woodblock print (surimono); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.766 Farmers harvesting rice emerge from the mist in this rare limited-edition print (surimono 摺物) by the renowned designer Katsushika Hokusai. Keisai Eisen 渓斎英泉 (Japanese, 1790–1848) Okegawa Station: Viewof thePlain, no. 7 from the series ASet of Pictures of Kisokaidō, 1835 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.855 A traveler at the right stops to ask a question of a seated farmer, at the center. The farmer is threshing rice stalks by hand and then feeding the hulled grains into a small, roundmill on the woven mat. Small piles of hulled rice surround the mill. To the left of the image, waiting to be threshed, you can see stooks, or taba 束, bundled sheaves of grain tied up with the grain-end elevated to protect from rot and vermin while drying. Inside the farmhouse a man leans over a fire pit to light his pipe. Note the drying tobacco leaves hanging above the window at the far left. Tobacco was introduced to Japan by the Portuguese and possibly other foreign traders in the 16th century, and pipe smoking quickly became widespread. It was a valuable secondary cash crop for farmers.
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