Measuring Daikoku's height, no. 5 from a series of 12 prints c. 1708

Okumura Masanobu created this print, "Measuring Daikoku's Height, no. 5," as part of a series of twelve, sometime in the early to mid-1700s. The print depicts two women measuring Daikoku, one of the seven gods of fortune, using an object that rests on his head. During the Edo period, when this work was created, popular culture and art began to reflect the lives and interests of the common people. Here, Masanobu humorously engages with religious iconography by depicting the informal interaction between the women and Daikoku. The women, elegantly dressed, are not presented as reverent figures, but rather as everyday people engaging with a deity in a familiar way. There is an intimacy that invites the viewer to consider the accessibility and integration of religious figures into the daily lives of the Japanese population. Through this lens, the artwork serves as a reflection of societal values, capturing the intersection of the sacred and the mundane. It humanizes Daikoku by showing him as an approachable, rather than an aloof and unapproachable figure.