The Flowers of Edo - by Utagawa Kunisada

Today we’ll be looking at an amazing print series that captures the entire Japanese culture - its history, legends, actors, landscapes, even its advertisements - all within a single, unified format. The seventy print series is called “The Flowers of Edo”, and was designed in 1862 by Utagawa Kunisada one of the most commercially successful and prolific print designers of the 19th century. He dominated the Edo market (Edo is modern day Tokyo) with his depictions of Kabuki performers. By the 1850s, he was also the leader of the Utagawa school. If you want to learn more check out our video on "Who Was Kunisada?". The series is known in Japanese as Edo-no-Hana Meisho-e - “The Flowers of Edo: A Collection of Famous Places” - the title has two meanings. “Flowers of Edo” referred to the very best the city had to offer: its culture, history, its people, and everyday life. Included in these prints are stories of monster cats, cute poetry, amazing landscapes, actors, kites, vengeful ghosts, advertisements, and more. But a flower is also like a flame, so the series title also references the frequent fires that swept through Edo. And In fact, when we look at the index or table of contents page for this series we see that it directly refers to the city’s sixty-four fire brigades. So these prints are dedicated to Edo’s firefighting culture. After you've enjoyed the video please check out our selection of prints at https://www.miegallery.com #japaneseart #woodblockprints #japaneseculture #kunisada #ukiyoe #ukiyo