Yoshitoshi's Women

Book excerpt: Taiso Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) was the last creative genius of woodblock prints, his career spanning traditional Japan and the modernizing of Meiji. He is best known for designs of Japan's legendary past, for violent and bloody prints, and for prints of women. His finest images of women form a series entitled Fuzoku sanjuniso, "Thirty-two Aspects of Daily Life", which was issued in 1888. The series shows women of different social classes from 1789 to Yoshitoshi's present. Sensitively conceived and lavishly produced, the prints are vignettes of women caught in typical moments of their daily lives. The series has become a classic and fetches high prices from collectors. Woodblock prints had always been concerned with what was fashionable and up-to-date - "Thirty-two Aspects of Daily Life" was different in trying to capture the flavor of historical periods that had disappeared. It was original, too, in its attempt to individualize women in a genre that was usually highly stylized. This book presents "Thirty-two Aspects of Daily Life" in full color, explaining the subtleties of each design in text opposite the print. An illustrated introduction explores Yoshitoshi's often problematic relations with women, the lives of courtesans and geisha, and how the series was produced.