The Courtesan Takigawa of the Ogiya House Offering herself Publically for the First Time in the Year, from the series Beauties of the Green Houses

The ukiyo-e (pictures of the floating world) genre of wood-block printing captured the excitement and beauty of the burgeoning urban culture in Edo (Tokyo). Woodblock prints, inexpensive and mass produced, were aimed at the merchant class, who contributed to their popularity. Professional courtesans, such as the woman portrayed here, were among the primary subjects, which also included kabuki actors and landscapes. The extravagance and gentle sweeping outlines of the multicolored patterned clothing—both common to nishiki-e (brocade pictures)—suggest a covert eroticism without invoking government-imposed regulations on content and style. These women were highly idealized by ukiyo-e stylistic conventions, however, and the harsh reality of their everyday lives as courtesans was rarely depicted.