The Floating World Takes Shape

Hishikawa Moronobu

The Entrance to Ageya-machi

1681–84

Woodblock print; ink on paper, 25.7 × 38.6 cm. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

A samurai and his servant have just come through the great gate as two men joke with two women nearby.

• From a set of Yoshiwara views; that gate, the Ōmon, was the only way in or out.
• The figures stand on Nakamachi, the quarter's main street.
• Black line alone renders the figures, roofs and lattices.

Ageya-machi

The Yoshiwara street of ageya, houses where clients met and entertained courtesans.

Image: The Met Open Access · Public domain (Met Open Access)