Golden Years of Ukiyoe —Sharaku, Utamaro, and Tsutaya Juzaburo—

Apr. 13 (Sun.), 2025 – June 8 (Sun.)

The golden years of ukiyoe are considered to be in the period covering the late 18th to early 19th centuries. This was the time when Tsutaya Juzaburo was playing a leading role in shaping the publishing industry in Edo. He had an extraordinary gift for discovering talented ukiyoe artists, like Toshusai Sharaku and Kitagawa Utamaro, helping them and their woodblock print portraits of kabuki actors and beautiful women gain widespread acclaim. Juzaburo, Sharaku, and Utamaro are especially well known for their huge success in popularizing okubi-e, ukiyoe prints that dynamically depict the subject’s head and upper torso. This exhibition traces the timeline from the birth of ukiyoe to the era of Sharaku and Utamaro. Immerse yourself in the amazing world of multi-colored ukiyoe works that dazzled the people of Europe when they were revealed at the International Exposition in Paris at that time.