ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM 35 Top left: Ryūryūkyo Shinsai 柳々居辰斎 (Japanese, ca. 1764–1820) White Shell, “Shiragi”: ThePoet Sekizentei AriieWatching aWomanPrepare aPotted Landscape, fromthe series MatchingPoets, 1809 Color woodblock print (surimomo); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.492 A prominent characteristic of shoin interior architecture is seen here, just behind the kneeling woman. The tokonoma 床の間 is a recessed alcove with a raised platform, used for changing displays of art and flower arrangements that often expressed a sensitivity to seasonal change. In this case, the hanging scroll painting is of a lucky turtle known as a minogame 蓑亀; they are so old they have a long fringe of seaweed on their backs, resembling the beard of an oldman. A small vase of flowers hangs on the side. Behind the man at the right is another recessed space with a desk covered with books. Although it has a piece of furniture here, such spaces are often filled with a built-in desk (tsukeshoin 付書院) or a set of staggered shelves (chigaidana 違い棚). Middle left: UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) UshiwakamaruReads Kiichi Hogen’s Secret Scrolls, no. 7 fromthe series ABiographyof Yoshitsune, ca. 1834–35 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.1066 Although anachronistic for the print’s subject, the 12th century hero Yoshitsune, we see here an Edo-period residence for a high-ranking samurai. The garden is a decorative one, with stone lanterns, manicured trees and shrubs, and a winding pond. This emphasizes the high status of the characters, who can devote so much of their property to an ornamental space. The openness of the interiors, as well as the permeability of inside and outside spaces, allowed light and air to circulate, something also made possible by the temperate climate of eastern Japan. The wide eaves over the engawa also create passive heating or cooling: when the sun is high in the summer, they give shade, when it is low in the winter, they allow sunlight to penetrate the interior. Another feature seen in these prints is the open, empty interior space. People sat directly on the tatami floors, and typically did not have permanent pieces of furniture in each room. This allowed a flexibility for the rooms, which could be changed as needed by using sliding screens that could be closed for privacy, then opened or even removed for larger gatherings. The elegant minimalism for which traditional Japanese interiors are so admired is rooted in practicality.
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