Toyokuni Utagawa’s Insight into Leisure, Food
The glamorous world of prostitutes who wear glittering clothes, eat delicious food and entertain their customers. They must be delighted, but I wonder how hard it must be for them. They must have needed to take a break and relax. Toyokuni Utagawa’s “Mitate Genji Shinasadame” focuses on such a time.
Let’s look at the painting. Eight people are shown, one clipping his toenails and another holding a cat. Next to them, lying down and reading a book, are a box of sushi and a box of sakura-mochi (rice cake with cherry blossoms). A sake bottle is in the cup. Next to a woman playing the shamisen lazily, a girl delivers a letter. Behind them is a bowl that appears to have been delivered.
The picture focuses on such an important time to relax, and the centerpiece of the picture is a box of sushi. Looking back, Shotaro Ikenami’s essay “Scenes at the dining table” also mentions that the only thing Ikenami’s mother, who supported her family single-handedly in Tokyo, looked forward to was an occasional piece of sushi. https://www.shinchosha.co.jp/book/115606/
That small bite of sushi must have given the women the energy to go on to their next job.
(The image of Ukiyo-e in this page is cited from ‘sakana zukushi’, supervised by Yasuo Suehiro)