Yokohama kenbutsu zue|Picture of Sights in Yokohama: Woman with a Ringer, Lamp Post, a Steamboat at Full Sail and a Woman with a Sewing Machine

Art Historical Context

In the bustling port city of Yokohama during Japan's late Edo period (1615–1868), Utagawa Yoshikazu a vivid snapshot of cultural collision in his 1860 woodblock print, *Yokohama kensu zue: Picture of Sights in Yokohama This colorful ukiyo-e work—ink and color on paper, measuring 14 3/4 x 10 inches—depicts everyday wonders: a woman operating a laundry ringer, a gas lamp post, a steamboat billowing smoke under full sail, and another woman at a sewing machine. Yoshikazu, a master of the Utagawa school, used the precise layering of woodblock techniques to bring these scenes to life with vibrant hues and dynamic composition. Created just seven years after Commodore Perry forced Japan open to Western trade, the print reflects Yokohama's transformation into a treaty port teeming with foreign ships and novelties. These "Yokohama-e" prints, a short-lived ukiyo-e subgenre, expressed Japanese fascination—and subtle wariness—with Western technology amid rapid modernization. Women at work with imported machines highlight shifting gender roles and daily life amid globalization. Today, housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Asian Art department, this bequest from William S. Lieberman exemplifies how art documented Japan's pivot from isolation to engagement with the world, blending tradition with the thrill of the new.

About the Artist

Utagawa Yoshikazu · 1845–1870

Utagawa Yoshikazu (active circa 1850–1870) was a Japanese ukiyo-e woodblock print artist who came of age during one of the most dynamic periods in Japanese history — the twilight of the Edo period and the dawning of the Meiji era. Born and active in Edo (present-day Tokyo), he trained under the celebrated master Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the towering figures of the Utagawa school renowned for his ...