Print 1820 - 1840

This print was created by Yashima Gakutei, sometime between the late 18th and early 19th century in Japan, using woodblock printing techniques. The image depicts a fashionable woman in front of a waterfall, holding what appears to be a lacquered basin. It is from a series pairing the twelve signs of the zodiac with famous places in Edo, now Tokyo. This print represents the sign of the horse, associated with the Oji Inari shrine. While seemingly a simple landscape, the print reflects the rising popularity of tourism among the middle classes in Japan at the time. Woodblock prints like this one served as both souvenirs for visitors and as a form of advertising for these scenic spots. We see the commercialization of nature as leisure. To fully appreciate this print, historians consult travel guides, maps, and other ephemera that reveal the social and economic context in which these images were produced and consumed. The beauty of the artwork is inextricably linked to its cultural and institutional moment.