Four PM, from the series "Twenty-Four Hours in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi"

Art Historical Context

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi’s “Four PM” offers a captivating glimpse into daily life in Tokyo’s vibrant entertainment districts during the late nineteenth century. Part of the series “Twenty-Four in Shinbashi and Yanagibashi,” the print captures a specific moment in areas renowned for their teahouses, theaters, and geisha culture. Yoshitoshi, one of the last great masters of ukiyo-e, often blended traditional themes with the changing social landscape of the Meiji era, creating scenes that feel both intimate and dynamic. This color woodblock print exemplifies the technical brilliance of Japanese printmaking, where multiple carved blocks layer rich hues and fine details to evoke atmosphere and movement. The medium allowed artists like Yoshitoshi to reach wide audiences, turning everyday moments—such as the bustle at four o’clock—into accessible works of art that document shifting urban rhythms. Displayed in the Art Institute of Chicago’s Arts of Asia collection, the piece invites viewers to imagine the sounds, colors, and energy of Shinbashi and Yanagibashi at that precise hour, preserving a fleeting slice of Tokyo’s cultural history.

About the Artist

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi · 1839–1892

Tsukioka Yoshitoshi was born on April 30, 1839, in the Shimbashi district of Edo, the city that would become Tokyo. At the age of eleven he was apprenticed to Utagawa Kuniyoshi, one of the great masters of the Japanese woodblock print, who gave the boy the artist name 'Yoshitoshi' as a mark of lineage within the Utagawa School. From Kuniyoshi, Yoshitoshi absorbed the full tradition of ukiyo-e — th...