The Nakamise Shopping Street, from the series "Eight Precincts of the Kinryuzan Temple in Asakusa (Asakusa Kinryuzan hakkei)"
c. 1782
Medium
Color woodblock print; chuban
Dimensions
25.9 × 19.6 cm (10 1/4 × 7 3/4 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
89280
Art Historical Context
Step into the bustling heart of Edo-period Japan with Torii Kiyonaga's *The Nakamise Shopping Street*, vibrant color woodblock print from his *Eight Precincts the Kinryuzan in Asakusa* (c. 1782). This chuban-format print (25.9 × 19.6 cm) captures the lively Nakamise-dori, the iconic shopping street leading to Tokyo's Senso-ji (Kinryuzan). Pilgrims and locals alike throng the stalls hawking souvenirs, sweets, and talismans, evoking the era's blend of spirituality and commerce in Asakusa, a popular pleasure district. Kiyonaga, a leading ukiyo-e master of the late 18th century, excelled in depic...
About the Artist
Torii Kiyonaga · 1752–1815
Torii Kiyonaga, born Sekiguchi Shinsuke in 1752 in Uraga, Sagami Province, was the son of an Edo bookseller who owned tenements near a bustling fish market. At age 14 in 1765, he began his apprenticeship under Torii Kiyomitsu, the third-generation head of the prestigious Torii school of ukiyo-e, renowned for kabuki theater illustrations and signage. Adopted into the Torii family, Kiyonaga succeede...