Asakusa Rice Fields and Torinomachi Festival (Asakusa tanbo Torinomachi mode), from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)"

Discussion

FROM THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO’S CATALOG

This peaceful scene of a cat perched on a windowsill takes place on the second story of a brothel. Hairpins, a wad of tissue paper, and a towel hint at the room’s owner. The cat itself may be a stand-in for the woman, as sex workers were often associated with the grace and aloofness of felines. In the distance, small figures move in a procession to a nearby temple. On festival days, the pleasure quarters were open to all, and the courtesans took extra customers.

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