58 AMAM.OBERLIN.EDU THE EIGHT VIEWS AND THE FLOATING WORLD The FloatingWorld (ukiyo 浮世) was a Japanese cultural concept from the Edo period that celebrated the ephemeral pleasures available at the margins of urban life—theater, restaurants, travel, and entertainment districts with licensed prostitution. This hedonistic philosophy embraced living in the moment and enjoying life’s fleeting pleasures, which became immortalized in the tradition of woodblock prints depicting actors, beautiful women, and scenes of leisure known as ukiyo-e 浮世絵, or “Pictures of the FloatingWorld.” Along with prints of scenic landscapes in Japan, the Eight Views theme was also creatively reimagined by ukiyo-e artists in the popular print genre of bijinga 美人画, or “pictures of beautiful women.” These prints often made use of the idea of mitate 見立, introduced earlier— a sophisticated form of visual refashioning that connected classical themes with contemporary urban life, here transforming the traditional Eight Views into intimate portraits of women in everyday situations. For example, as seen here, Autumn Moon becomes a beauty gazing at her roundmirror and Returning Sails a scene of women looking at ships in the harbor. This adaptation demonstrated the wit and cultural literacy of both artists and viewers, who could appreciate the clever parallels between classical Chinese landscape themes and their modern reinterpretations. The technique allowed artists to elevate contemporary urban subjects by linking them to revered cultural traditions, while simultaneously making classical themes more accessible to Edo audiences. KitagawaUtamaro 喜多川歌麿 (Japanese, 1754–1806) EveningGlow in theMansion, fromthe series Eight Views of Customs of the FloatingWorld, ca. 1795 Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.410 Utamaro’s print of two elegant women references Fishing Village in Evening Glow from the Eight Views of Xiāoxiāng, creating an interplay between high and low culture. While the original view symbolized simplicity, tranquility, and impermanence through a fishing village at sunset, Utamaro reinterprets these themes through two beautiful women in an evening scene. By substituting the sunset’s glowwith the “evening glow” of the women, he preserves the original’s essence of fleeting beauty while adding playful contemporary relevance for Edo audiences. UtagawaHiroshige I 初代目歌川広重 (Japanese, 1797–1858) ReturningSails at Tsukuda, fromthe series Eight Views of Famous Places in Edo, mid-1840s Color woodblock print (nishiki-e); ink and color on paper MaryA. AinsworthBequest, 1950.1249 Tsukuda was a major fishing port in Edo located on a small island in the bay. In fact, at the right you can see three fishermen on a small boat, surrounded by larger ships laden with goods for the Edo markets. At the far left, the fluttering white flags on tall poles mark the location of the Sumiyoshi Shrine, a popular Shinto shrine on the island. The real subject, though, is in the foreground: four young women, their dress identifying them as members of the urban townspeople (chōnin 町人) class of merchants and artisans. The prominence of the Sumiyoshi Shrine behind them suggests that they are returning from a visit there. Two are already on the shore, twomore are on a ferry, about to arrive. Mitate is often subtle. Perhaps the “returning sails” theme refers not only to the ships in the background, but to the women themselves? See page 20 for a larger reproduction andmore information on this print.
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