Oiran by Kasentei TOMINOBU

Kasentei TOMINOBU (fl.c. 1820-1840)

Oiran

About Kasentei TOMINOBU
Kasentei TOMINOBU was not famous ukiyo-e painter. Since his life was quite short (he died at the age of 20 or around 20), there are not so many his works and most of his life is unknown. Oiran is one of his small works.

About OIRAN
Oiran was the highest ranked courtesan in the pleasure quarters Edo era. The word oiran (花魁) consists of two kanji. 花 means “flower,” and 魁 means “leader,” “first,” or “top.” From these letters, it is easily assumed that in Edo sea, oiran was the leader of other courtesans and was really special existence in Japan. There were three famous cities where oiran lived – Shimabara in Kyoto, Shimmachi in Osaka, but the most famous city is of course Yoshiwara in Edo (Tokyo). Becoming oiran in Edo meant that she was beautiful, smart, artistic, etc. and people desired to see her even it needed enormous amount of money.

About the ukiyo-e
At first sight, this ukiyo-e looks like oiran who is on the way of oiran-douchu (花魁道中, literally oiran’s trip) which is a parade when oiran went to see her client from the pleasure quarters. In fact, however, this is about oiran who is on parade New Year celebration. Therefore, the print is telling not only beautiful oiran, but also indicating the New Year celebration. Mominobu might want to express the great start of New Year through beautiful oiran picture.

There are several indications which associate with New Year. First of all, the poem in the upper right is telling that the print is about oiran’s parade to celebrate the New Year. You can see the name who wrote it just below the poem. It is very interesting that unlike other oiran prints, there is no detailed background behind Tominobu’s oiran. There is just white background behind her. This may be because the poem is much more important in the whole print and people easily understand that this is not usual oiran print. The robe covering most of her body is also filled with New Year elements. All prints on the robe like shishi-mai (the print in the left bottom), chicken, and flowers are all associated with celebration or New Year. Finally, her overall appearance including her extraordinarily ornate coiffure, kimono, and lofty platform shoes is expressing that something eventful is going on.

Oiran is standing in the left side of the picture and she looks as if she is going to start walking. This may imply that the New Year is just starting. If you look at the print closely, you can notice that all oiran, shishi-mai, and chicken are facing the right hand side. Thus, the most of the energy flows from lift to right in the print. This can be interpreted that the great and energetic year is going on in Edo. Also the round-shaped tail of her kimono might indicate year or life.

There is little information about oiran herself. On the big black box behind her, there is the crest which may be telling her family. However, this is not positive because the crest might be her patron’s or symbol of pleasure quarters. The box looks really unusual because most of oiran prints, there is no such box around.

There are only four colors used in the ukiyo-e – black, grey, blue, and red. Usually prints of oiran tend to be colorful. This simply coloring may be because the print was not made for expression of beautiful oiran, but rather expression of Happy New Year. Also people can focus on the poem a lot easier with simple colors.

Overall, this ukiyo-e is well balanced. The position of oiran gives enough room for the poem and signatures. The black box gives accent to the print. If the box was not there, the picture would be too simple and not enough to express the New Year. The prints on her robe are well designed. Although there are many prints on her robe, all prints are pulled together. Each factor in this print doesn’t kill each other and makes the print well composed.

About my impression
When I first looked at the ukiyo-e, I was a little disappointed because I had imagined a more colorful and gorgeous oiran picture. In the print, there are only oiran and the black box. There is no tree, no sky, no road, no people, but the poem and names of the poet and Tominobu himself. Most of the colors are used to draw oiran, yet still I feel these colors are not enough to express gorgeous oiran.

After I had realized that the ukiyo-e was made for the New Year celebration, it became a lot easier to understand the print. I assume that the print was not made only to express beautiful oiran. If so, Tominobu could use more color or put more detail in this work to show off the oiran. Since he also had to express the other part, the New Year celebration, he needed to put that element and clear extra decoration in his print.

The interesting part of this ukiyo-e is the big black box behind the oiran. I don’t know whether this kind of box was usual item for the parade or not but I’ve never seen such a box in any oiran prints. The crest on the box is also questionable. It can be said that Tominobu put it to imply where she was from but since most prostitutes in Edo era were sold by poor families, it is difficult to say that she had such a family who had the crest. Other ideas are that the crest was her client’s family symbol or that her pleasure quarters’ symbol, yet these are also dubious.

I personally like this print. This is not too loud but not too quiet. One sad point is that print quality is not really good but still I can see the oiran in detail. What I like most is that Tominobu was not just drawing beautiful oiran but also expressing the happiness of the New Year. The double meanings make the print a lot more interesting and attractive.