Women of the daimonjiya watching a cuckoo. This large surimono would have been folded for presentation. In the upper section, a group of women and their attendants gather at the window grille of the daimonjiya brothel. The poems beneath are upside down, to be read as the print was unfolded. In playful collaboration with hokusai’s design, writer and artist santō kyōden added a small cuckoo flying through these verses. As the print is unfolded, the cuckoo darts out of the reach of the women. Japan, late 1790s. Chester beatty library j 2189. Date: Late 1790s.
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