Young Boy Wearing Hakama for the First Time, from from the series "A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Fuzoku Azuma no nishiki)"
c. 1783/84
Medium
Color woodblock print; oban
Dimensions
38.9 × 25.5 cm (15 3/8 × 10 1/16 in.)
Classification
woodblock print
Department
Arts of Asia
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
22561
Art Historical Context
In the vibrant world of 18th-century Japan, Torii Kiyonaga captures a tender milestone in *Young Boy Wearing Hakama the First Time*, from his series *A Brocade of Eastern Manners (Foku Azuma no niki)*, circa 1783–84. This color woodblock print depicts a young boy proudly donning hakama—traditional pleated trousers symbolizing maturity—for the first time, likely marking a rite of passage amid family celebration. Kiyonaga, a master of the ukiyo-e ("pictures of the floating world") tradition, excelled in genre scenes of everyday Edo life, blending graceful figures with subtle emotional depth duri...
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...