Yoshitoshi's '32 Aspects of Women (Fūzoku Sanjūnisō)' (1888)


Introduction

This page catalogs all the prints in Yoshitoshi's series 'Fūzoku Sanjūnisō (風俗 三十二相)', or '32 Aspects of Customs and Manners' or '32 Aspects of Daily Life' (to translate the title accurately), or '32 Aspects of Women' (as it is often more usually known now).

The series dates from the very end of Yoshitoshi's career, when he was about forty-nine years old. It thus dates from the same period as his well-known masterpieces such as his great series "One Hundred Aspects of the Moon" (1885-1892), and "New Forms of Thirty-Six Ghosts" (often called simply "Thirty-Six Ghosts") (1889-1892).

This page is a preliminary page, using large images from another Yoshitoshi site; none of the individual title kanji, translations, etc have been checked. Nonetheless, in giving all the titles in English, we hope it is a useful interim resource until we can do a full job on this common, well-known, and wonderful, series.

Technical details

Previous cataloguings

Most notably, it is the subject of a reference volume:
	John Stevenson, "Yoshitoshi's Women: The Woodblock-Print Series
		Fūzoku Sanjūnisō",
		University of Washington, Seattle, 1986, 1995
It is listed in Keyes' thesis (but see below for a complication):
	Roger. S. Keyes, "Courage and Silence: A Study of the Life and
		Color Woodblock Prints of Tsukioka Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Cinncinnati, 1982
where it appears as series #503; he listed all 32 prints in the series. Also listed in:
	Eric van den Ing, Robert Schaap, "Beauty and Violence: Japanese
		Prints by Yoshitoshi 1839-1892",
		Havilland, Eindhoven, 1992
where it appears as series #63 (pp. 139-140), and:
	Shinichi Segi, "Yoshitoshi: The Splendid Decadent",
		Tokyo, Japan, 1985
where it appears on pages 92-95, color plates 56-57 (and notes to them, pp. 146-147).

They are ordered the same as on the series' own title page, and also in both Stevenson and van den Ing and Schaap (which copy that order); that is, chronological by the period of the image. However, we use the Keyes numbers to identify the prints (which are basically ordered chronological by printing date, as throughout his listings where there is not assigned numbering).


The Prints

The word 'fūzoku', which appears in all the individual print titles, means 'customs' or 'manners' or 'morals'. To avoid repeating a lengthy formulation such as 'customs and manners' (as is often used in translations of the series title), this page uses the term 'habits' to translate its appearance in individual print titles.

The word 'nenkan', translated here as 'era' (and in some sources as 'period') refers to the Japanese era name, a more formal concept than either of the two English words used in translation normally imply. The years associated with each era are given when it is first seen in the table below (recall that all the prints of a given era are grouped together in the standard ordering for this series).

In a few cases (#7, #9, #11, #18) Keyes and Stevenson disagree about the caption; we have preferred Stevenson in these cases (until we can check out the translations ourselves).

To see a larger, roughly full-screen, image of any print, please click on the thumbnail; these images are sized to produce reasonable detail (if we have an original that big), and are fairly compressed.


Thumbnail Large image Number Keyes Number Date Title (Kanji) Title (Rōmaji) Title (English) Description
Title Page #33 1888/10 風俗 三十二相 目次 Fūzoku Sanjūnisō Mokuji 32 Aspects of Customs and Manners: Table of Contents
#1 #1 1888/ うるささう 寛政年間 処女之風俗 Urusasō Kansei nenkan shojo no fūzoku Tiresome/Noisy: Habits of a virgin of the Kansei era [1789-1800]
#2 #2 1888/ しだらなささう 寛政年間 京都芸子風俗 Shidaranasasō Kansei nenkan Kyōto geiko no fūzoku Loose: Habits of a geisha of Kyōto of the Kansei era
#3 #3 1888/ いたさう 寛政年間 女郎の風俗 Itasō Kansei nenkan jorō no fūzoku Painful: Habits of a prostitute of the Kansei era She is shown having her arm tattooed.
#4 #5 1888/ あつたかさう 寛政年間 町家後家の風俗 Attakasō Kansei nenkan chōka goke no fūzoku Warm: Habits of an urban widow of the Kansei era She is shown reading at a kotatsu (heated table).
#5 #15 1888/ ひんがよささう 享和年間 宮女之風俗 Hingayosasō Kyōwa nenkan kanjō no fūzoku Elegant: Habits of a lady of the Imperial court in the Kyōwa era [1801-1803]
#6 #22 1888/ けむさう 享和年間 内室之風俗 Kemusō Kyōwa nenkan naishitsu no fūzoku Smoky: Habits of a housewife of the Kyōwa era
#7 #13 1888/ つめたさう 文化年間 めかけの風俗 Tsumetasō Bunka nenkan mekake no fūzoku Chilly: Habits of a concubine of the Bunka era [1804-1818]
#8 #10 1888/ あつさう 文政年間 内室の風俗 Atsusō Bunsei nenkan naishitsu no fūzoku Hot: Habits of a wealthy housewife of the Bunsei era [1818-1830] She is shown receiving treatment with moxibustion.
#9 #7 1888/ おもしろさう 文政年間 奥女中の風俗 Omoshirosō Bunsei nenkan okujochū no fūzoku Amused: Habits of a high-ranking lady-in-waiting of the Bunsei era She is shown looking over a railing.
#10 #12 1888/ しなやかさう 天保年間 傾城之風俗 Shinayakasō Tempō nenkan keisei no fūzoku Feminine: Habits of a keisei of the Tempō era [1830-1844] The keisei (literally, 'castle-toppler') were the highest-grade of courtesans; she is shown here in her full regalia.
#11 #4 1888/ さむさう 天保年間 深川仲町芸者風俗 Samusō Tempō nenkan Fukagawa Nakamachi geisha no fūzoku Frozen: Habits of a geisha of the Nakamachi district of Fukagawa in the Tempō era
#12 #25 1888/ おもたさう 天保年間 深川かるこの風俗 Omotasō Tempō nenkan Fukagawa karuko no fūzoku Heavy: Habits of a waitress in the licensed quarters at Fukagawa in the Tempō era She is shown carrying a tray of food.
#13 #14 1888/ みたさう 天保年間 御小性之風俗 Mitasō Tempō nenkan okoshō no fūzoku Curious: Habits of an okoshō of the Tempō era An okoshō was a maid, normally from a wealthy lower-class family, in a samurai household, there to learn upper-class manners, etc; the closest contemporary Western equivalent would be an 'au pair'.
#14 #17 1888/ にあいさう 弘化年間 廓の芸者風俗 Niaisō Kōka nenkan kuruwa no geisha fūzoku Suitable/Becoming: Habits of a geisha of the licensed quarters in the Kōka era [1844-1847] The "licensed quarters" in the title probably refers to the Yoshiwara district in Tōkyō, although similar districts existed in most Japanese cities of that period.
#15 #11 1888/ めがさめさう 弘化年間 むすめの風俗 Megasasmesō Kōka nenkan musume no fūzoku Awake: A young woman of the Kōka era
#16 #24 1888/ かゆさう 嘉永年間 かこゐものの風ぞく Kayusō Kaei nenkan kakoimono no fūzoku Itchy: Habits of a concubine of the Kaei era [1848-1853] She is shown emerging from her mosquito net, which from the title must not have been fully effective.
#17 #06 1888/ むまさう 嘉永年間 女郎之風俗 Mumasō Kaei nenkan jorō no fūzoku Delicious: Habits of a prostitute of the Kaei era. She is shown eating tempura; although now seen as a quintessentially Japanese dish, it was actually introduced to Japan during the sixteenth century by the Portuguese.
#18 #29 1888/ かいたさう 嘉永年間 おかみさんの風俗 Kaitasō Kaei nenkan okamisan no fūzoku Undecided: Habits of a proprietress of the Kaei era She is shown examining potted Japanese pheasant-eye plants, good luck charms when bought just before the lunar New Year.
#19 #9 1888/ じれつたさう 嘉永年間 鳶妻之風俗 Jikitsukisō Kaei nenkan anego no fūzoku Expectant/Irritable: Habits of the wife of a fire chief in the Kaei era She is shown seated by her husband's fireman's robe.
#20 #27 1888/ たのしんでゐさう 嘉永年間 師匠之風俗 Tanashindeisō Kaei nenkan shishō no fūzoku Enjoying: Habits of a teacher of the Kaei era Shown playing a samisen, she is likely a music teacher.
#21 #26 1888/ あいたさう 嘉永年間 おいらんのふう俗 Aitasō Kaei nenkan oiran no fūzoku Eager: Habits of an oiran of the Kaei era Shown here in a shower of cherry petals, an oiran was a high ranking courtesan, usually the principal attraction of her establishment.
#22 #30 1888/ のみたさう 安政年間 町芸者俗二酌人之風俗 Nomitasō Ansei nenkan machi geisha zoku ni shakunin no fūzoku Thirsty: Habits of a street geisha, a bar-girl, of the Ansei era [1854-1859] Shown holding a wine cup, a machi geisha (literally, 'town geisha') worked outside the licensed quarters.
#23 #31 1888/ にくらしさう 安政年間 名古屋嬢之風俗 Nikurashisō Ansei nenkan Nagoya-jō no fūzoku Disagreeable: Habits of a young woman of Nagoya in the Ansei era The blocks were re-engraved by Horikō Toku, and a second version of the print published by Tsunashima, probably in the 1890's.
#24 #20 1888/ すゞしさう 明治五六年 以来 芸妓の風俗 Suzushisō Meiji goroku nen irai geigi no fūzoku Cool: Habits of a geisha of the 5th or 6th year of the Meiji era [1872 or 1873] She is shown seated in a boat.
#25 #21 1888/ おきがつきさう 明治年間 西京仲居之風俗 Okigatsukisō Meiji nenkan saikyō nakai no fūzoku Observant: Habits of a waitress of Western Kyōto in the Meiji era [1868-1912]
#26 #16 1888/ かわゆらしさう 明治十年 以来 内室の風俗 Kawayurashisō Meiji jūnen irai naishitsu no fūzoku Cute: Habits of a housewife of the 10th year of the Meiji era [1877]
#27 #8 1888/ 暗さう 明治年間 妻君の風俗 Kurasō Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku Dark: Habits of a housewife of the Meiji era [1868-1912] She is shown extinguishing a lantern.
#28 #19 1888/ あぶなさう 明治年間 当時芸妓の風俗 Abunasō Meiji nenkan tōji geigi no fūzoku Dangerous: Habits of a modern geisha of the Meiji era She is shown boarding a boat.
#29 #28 1888/ はずかしさう 明治年間 むすめの風俗 Hazukashisō Meiji nenkan musume no fūzoku Embarrassed/Shy: Habits of a young woman of the Meiji era
#30 #18 1888/ ねむさう 明治年間 娼妓の風俗 Nemusō Meiji nenkan shōgi no fūzoku Sleepy: Habits of a prostitute of the Meiji era She is shown asleep by a screen.
#31 #32 1888/ うれしさう 明治年間 当今芸妓之ふうそく Ureshisō Meiji nenkan tōkon geigi no fūzoku Happy: Habits of a modern geisha of the Meiji era She is shown catching a firefly.
#32 #23 1888/ 遊歩がしたそう 明治年間 妻君之風俗 Sanpogashitasō Meiji nenkan saikun no fūzoku Strolling: Habits of the wife of a nobleman of the Meiji era


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Last updated: 22/August/2013