Interior of a Yoshiwara Tea House 

Editor: This is "Interior of a Yoshiwara Tea House" by Katsushika Hokusai. The patterning is so interesting! What can you tell me about it? Curator: Notice how Hokusai renders the Yoshiwara district as a site of labor. Each figure is meticulously crafted, suggesting an intense production process tied to the tea house's social role. Consider the woodblock printing process, and how that impacted consumption of art. Editor: So, the image itself is a product of labor? Curator: Precisely! And it depicts labor. How does that impact your understanding of the work? Editor: It makes me think about who had access to this image and what their relationship to the Yoshiwara district was. Curator: Exactly.