Toasted Mochi (a kind of rice food used during the New Year season)

Art Historical Context

Yashima Gakutei *Toasted Mochi*, delicate 19th-century woodblock print from Japan’s Edo period, captures the simple joy of a New Year’s delicacy. Part of a luxurious surimono album—privately commissioned prints often exchanged as seasonal greetings—this intimate work measures just 5 3/8 x 7 3/8 inches, perfect for personal appreciation. Rendered in vibrant ink and color on paper it exemplifies ukiyo-e artistry, where everyday subjects like food gain poetic elegance. Surimono were elite connoisseur pieces, featuring embossed details, metallic pigments, and subtle calligraphy, blending visual b...

About the Artist

Yashima Gakutei · 1786–1868

Yashima Gakutei (c. 1786–1868), born in Osaka as the illegitimate son of a Tokugawa shogunate samurai named Hirata, adopted the name from his mother's subsequent marriage into the Yashima clan. Little is documented about his early years beyond these familial ties, but he pursued artistic training under the esteemed ukiyo-e masters Totoya Hokkei and Katsushika Hokusai, absorbing their precision in ...