Young Nobleman Playing Koto (Harp) 19th century

Kubo Shunman created this woodblock print of a young nobleman playing the Koto in the late 18th or early 19th century. Shunman lived and worked during the Edo period, a time of economic growth, strict social order, and relative peace in Japan. The print depicts a male figure of the aristocracy engaged in playing music, a common artistic trope which often served to legitimize the ruling classes by associating them with cultural refinement and artistic skill. What is interesting about this particular print is the delicate rendering of the nobleman's features; his face is soft, his posture relaxed, and his hands graceful. The text, with its poetic inscriptions, and the subject itself suggest a cultivated, aesthetic sensibility valued among the elite. Yet, the figure's apparent androgyny complicates straightforward readings of power. Shunman invites us to reflect on the intersections of gender, class, and artistic expression.