JAPAN 50 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Mitsukoshi, Waistcoat, Hishikawa Moronobu
Document Summary
Commoditization of entertainment: kabuki, bunraku, pleasure quarters, woodblock painting, ukiyo-e (the floating picture, a literary genre of popular fiction, books of the floating world (ukiyo zoshi) Ka means song, by means dance, ki means skills. Origins: founded by a female performer, izumo no okuni in kyoto. Ban on women"s kabuki and young boy kabuki. Young man kabuki performed by adult male actors. The actors performing the roles of women characters called onnagata actors. The three major licensed pleasure quarters during the edo period. Tokugawa shogunate banned on luxury and promoted thrift but pleasure quarters are exception. Outside of the very regimented and hierarchical society. A multicolored woodblock print was developed during edo period. Ukiyo-e literally means the picture of the floating world (ukiyo) The popular themes include female beauties (courtesans), kabuki performers, famous places or spots, etc. Example: beauty looking back, 17th century, by hishikawa moronobu. Floating world (ukiyo) referred to world of sexual pleasure.
