The Mouseion · Asia & the Islamic World · Japan

Japan

Woodblock prints of the "floating world" of actors, beauties and travellers, painted screens and scrolls, lacquer and ceramics. The prints of Hokusai and Hiroshige crossed the sea in the 1860s and changed European painting.

Walk inThe whole museum

On the walls this month

  • Cranes on snow-covered pine — Katsushika Hokusai
    Cranes on snow-covered pine — Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), c. 1834, Color woodblock print; vertical nagaban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Medicine Master Buddha and the Twelve Divine Generals
    Medicine Master Buddha and the Twelve Divine Generals — 1200s, Hanging scroll painting; ink, color, gold, and silver on silk
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Oumayagashi, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)" — Utagawa Hiroshige
    Oumayagashi, from the series "One Hundred Famous Views of Edo (Meisho Edo hyakkei)" — Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), 1857, Color woodblock print; oban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Ikiyasan Isakiji — Nukina Kaioku
    Ikiyasan Isakiji — Nukina Kaioku (1778–1863), 1833, leaf from a pair of folding albums; ink and color on silk
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Ise, from an untitled series of Thirty-six Immortal Poets — Suzuki Harunobu
    Ise, from an untitled series of Thirty-six Immortal Poets — Suzuki Harunobu (1724–1770), c. 1767/68, Color woodblock print; chuban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)" — Katsushika Hokusai
    Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjurokkei)" — Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), 1830/33, Color woodblock print; oban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Dragon and Tiger — Sesson Shūkei
    Dragon and Tiger — Sesson Shūkei (1492–1577), c. 1546–56, Pair of six-panel folding screens; ink on paper
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Farmer Returning Home in Autumn — Yosa Buson
    Farmer Returning Home in Autumn — Yosa Buson (1716–1783), 1781, Hanging scroll; ink and light color on silk
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • The Maple Festival (Momiji no ga) from chapter 7 of The Tale of Genji — Kitao Shigemasa
    The Maple Festival (Momiji no ga) from chapter 7 of The Tale of Genji — Kitao Shigemasa (1739–1820), early 1760s, Color woodblock print; hosoban, mizu-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians"
    Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians" — c. 1600, One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians"
    Arrival of the "Southern Barbarians" — c. 1600, One of a pair of six-panel folding screens; ink, color, and gold on paper
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Macaw on a pine branch — Utagawa Hiroshige
    Macaw on a pine branch — Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), c. 1835, Color woodblock print; otanzaku
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • The Courtesan Arihara of the Tsuruya, and Child Attendants Aoe and Sekiya (Tsuruya uchi Arihara, Aoe, Sekiya), from an untitled series of courtesans — Kitagawa Utamaro
    The Courtesan Arihara of the Tsuruya, and Child Attendants Aoe and Sekiya (Tsuruya uchi Arihara, Aoe, Sekiya), from an untitled series of courtesans — Kitagawa Utamaro (1753–1806), c. 1797, Color woodblcok print; aiban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Swift Bull from the Ten Swift Bulls
    Swift Bull from the Ten Swift Bulls — late 1200s–early 1300s, section of a handscroll mounted as a hanging scroll; ink and slight color on paper
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • The Actor Ichikawa Ebizo II casting a curse at the hour of the ox — Torii Kiyomasu II
    The Actor Ichikawa Ebizo II casting a curse at the hour of the ox — Torii Kiyomasu II (1706–1763), c. 1745, Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Maisaka: The Ferry at Imagiri (Maisaka, Imagiri funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido) — Utagawa Hiroshige
    Maisaka: The Ferry at Imagiri (Maisaka, Imagiri funawatashi), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi)," also known as the Tokaido with Poem (Kyoka iri Tokaido) — Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), c. 1837/42, Color woodblock print; chuban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Kanbara: Evening Snow (Kanbara, yoru no yuki), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido — Utagawa Hiroshige
    Kanbara: Evening Snow (Kanbara, yoru no yuki), from the series "Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido (Tokaido gojusan tsugi no uchi)," also known as the Hoeido Tokaido — Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), c. 1833/34, Color woodblock print; oban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)" — Katsushika Hokusai
    Under the Wave off Kanagawa (Kanagawa oki nami ura), also known as The Great Wave, from the series "Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji (Fugaku sanjūrokkei)" — Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849), 1830/33, Color woodblock print; oban
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • People of Japan in Light Verse (Kyōka) — Utagawa Hiroshige
    People of Japan in Light Verse (Kyōka) — Utagawa Hiroshige (1797–1858), 1857, Set of seven woodblock-printed books; ink and color on paper
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • The Actors Tamazawa Saijiro I as the pageboy Umezaburo and Segawa Kikunojo I as Oroku in the play "Sazareishi Suehiro Genji," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1744 — Torii Kiyomasu II
    The Actors Tamazawa Saijiro I as the pageboy Umezaburo and Segawa Kikunojo I as Oroku in the play "Sazareishi Suehiro Genji," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1744 — Torii Kiyomasu II (1706–1763), 1744, Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • The Actors Segawa Kikunojo I as Ochiyo and Matsushima Kichisaburo as Ochiyo's spirit in the play "Higashiyama Gojitsu Yaoya Hanbei," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the eighth month, 1744 — Torii Kiyomasu II
    The Actors Segawa Kikunojo I as Ochiyo and Matsushima Kichisaburo as Ochiyo's spirit in the play "Higashiyama Gojitsu Yaoya Hanbei," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the eighth month, 1744 — Torii Kiyomasu II (1706–1763), 1744, Color woodblock print; hosoban, benizuri-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro II as Soga no Goro and Nakamura Takesaburo I as Kewaizaka no Shosho in the play "Bando Ichi Kotobuki Soga," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1715 — Torii Kiyonobu I
    The Actor Ichikawa Danjuro II as Soga no Goro and Nakamura Takesaburo I as Kewaizaka no Shosho in the play "Bando Ichi Kotobuki Soga," performed at the Nakamura Theater in the first month, 1715 — Torii Kiyonobu I (1664–1729), 1715, Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, tan-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Summer: Planting Rice (Natsu: taue no zu), No. 2 from the series "The Four Seasons of Farmers (Shiki no hyakusho)" — Torii Kiyomasu II
    Summer: Planting Rice (Natsu: taue no zu), No. 2 from the series "The Four Seasons of Farmers (Shiki no hyakusho)" — Torii Kiyomasu II (1706–1763), c. 1730s, Hand-colored woodblock print; hosoban, urushi-e
    Original: The Art Institute of Chicago
  • Seated Buddha
    Seated Buddha — 1100s, gilded wood
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Cosmetics Box with Chrysanthemums (lid)
    Cosmetics Box with Chrysanthemums (lid) — early 1300s, lacquer on wood
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Design of Pine, Camellia, and Bamboo (base)
    Writing Box (Suzuribako) with Design of Pine, Camellia, and Bamboo (base) — 1400s, Lacquered wood with gold and silver sprinkled powder (maki-e), stone, and metal
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Gigaku Mask of Young Persian Boy (Taikōji)
    Gigaku Mask of Young Persian Boy (Taikōji) — 710–94, paulownia wood, lacquered and painted
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Standing Figure of a Beauty
    Standing Figure of a Beauty — c. 1690, Porcelain with overglaze color enamels (Hizen ware, Kakiemon type)
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Koto (Zither)
    Koto (Zither) — early to mid-1800s, Wood with colored lacquer, sprinkled gold powder (maki-e), textile, and silk strings
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Buddha of the Future (Miroku Bosatsu)
    Buddha of the Future (Miroku Bosatsu) — late 600s, cast bronze, incised, with traces of gilding
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art
  • Buddha of the Future (Miroku Bosatsu)
    Buddha of the Future (Miroku Bosatsu) — late 600s, cast bronze, incised, with traces of gilding
    Original: The Cleveland Museum of Art

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  • The Islamic World — From Spain to India: calligraphy, illuminated manuscripts, tiles, carpets, metalwork and glass. Pattern and the…

Where the works come from

Every work in the Mouseion is a real piece, out of copyright everywhere, shown from the open collections of the museums that hold it — each label names the original’s museum and links to its page there.