Seeing Each Other with a View to Marriage 1780

Isoda Koryūsai made this woodblock print, titled ‘Seeing Each Other with a View to Marriage,’ in eighteenth-century Japan. The image depicts a formal meeting, arranged to assess the suitability of a couple for marriage. These meetings were highly ritualized events, reflecting the social norms and class structures of the time. Looking at the print, the figures are carefully arranged, with the potential bride and groom surrounded by family members and matchmakers. Their clothing, the setting, and even their expressions convey status, decorum, and the weighty social expectations placed on marriage. These arranged encounters were a key part of maintaining social order. To fully understand this print, we might turn to conduct historical research, examining period documents, etiquette manuals, and family records. Only then can we interpret the role of art as inseparable from its social and institutional context.