Utagawa Toyokuni II

As in Tsukasa of the Ogiya, Kunisada has borrowed the 11th-century Chinese landscape theme of the “Eight Views of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers” for the structure of his series “Eight Views of the Yoshiwara.” The inset scene depicts sailing boats, a play upon the Xiao-Xiang scene of “Returning Sails Off the Distant Shore.” Instead of the mist-filled landscape of the Chinese original, the boats sail toward the Yoshiwara, in a humorous comment on the lofty character of the original Chinese subject matter and the final destination of the boats in this print.