Seiro Bijin Awase Sugata Kagami|Mirror of the Beautiful Women of the Yoshiwara Brothels

Art Historical Context

Created in 1776 during Japan’s Edo period, *Seiro Bijin Awase Sugata Kagami* (Mirror of the Beautiful Women of the Yoshiwara Brothels) a landmark polychrome woodblock-printed book. It represents a collaboration between Kitao Shigemasa and Katsukawa Shunshō, two leading ukiyo-e masters. The album offers an elegant visual guide to the celebrated courtesans of Yoshiwara, Edo’s licensed pleasure district, capturing their grace, fashion, and daily activities through delicate lines and vibrant colors printed on paper. This work holds artistic significance as one of the earliest fully colored illustrated books, showcasing the refined printing techniques that would define later ukiyo-e. Its scenes of women reading and surrounded by plants highlight both the refined accomplishments and the natural elegance associated with these figures. For museum visitors today, the book provides a fascinating window into Edo-period aesthetics, social life, and the collaborative spirit of Japanese print culture.

About the Artist

Kitao Shigemasa|Katsukawa Shunshō　勝川春章 · 1739–1820

Kitao Shigemasa (1739–1820), born in the bustling Nihonbashi district of Edo (modern Tokyo), emerged as a pivotal figure in ukiyo-e woodblock printing during Japan's Edo period. The eldest son of the bookseller Suharaya Mohei—from a lineage of publishers—Shigemasa, originally named Kitabatake Tarōkichi, was immersed in the world of printing from youth. Largely self-taught, he later studied under t...