Igirisu|Englishmen Dining

Art Historical Context

**Igirisu|English Dining** is a vibrant woodblock print by Utagawa Yosha, created in the first month of 1861 Japan's late Edo period (1615–1868). Yoshitora, a prolific artist from the renowned Utagawa school, in ukiyo-e—"pictures of the floating world"—that captured the fleeting trends and curiosities of urban life. This work belongs to the Yokohama-e genre, which exploded in popularity after Commodore Perry forced Japan open to foreign trade in 1854, flooding ports like Yokohama with Westerners and sparking a national obsession with their exotic customs. The print depicts Englishmen seated on chairs—a stark contrast to Japan's traditional floor-based seating—engaged in dining and reading, activities that highlighted the allure and oddity of Western manners to Japanese viewers. Rendered in bold ink and color on paper through the meticulous woodblock process, where carvers and printers collaborated to layer vivid hues, it exemplifies ukiyo-e's accessibility as an affordable art form for the masses. Historically, such images bridged isolationist Japan and the modernizing world, reflecting both curiosity and subtle nationalism amid rapid change. Now at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, this piece invites us to glimpse a pivotal cultural encounter. (198 words)

About the Artist

Utagawa Yoshitora · 1845–1880

Utagawa Yoshitora (歌川 芳虎), also known by his art names Ichimōsai, Mōsai, and Kinchōrō, was a prolific ukiyo-e artist born in Edo (modern Tokyo), where he trained under the renowned Utagawa Kuniyoshi, recognized as his oldest pupil. Little is known of his early life, which remains sparsely documented, but his earliest works include illustrations for the book *Story of Karasu Kanzaemon’s Loyalty* in...