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Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara
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Tsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara

Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849), artist · 1799 · Surimono; color woodblock print

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.

About this work

Gomeirō is another name for the fashionable teahouse Ōgi-ya (House of Fans) in the Yoshiwara district of Edo (present-day Tokyo). Two courtesans, each attended by a geisha and a shinzō (apprentice to a courtesan) view a full autumn moon as it rises over the surrounding paddy fields. The elegance of the women's flowing robes and the serenity of the evening with a full silver moon contribute to the poetic atmosphere of this surimono , a privately commissioned print usually accompanied by text—here, a poem, which reads: What liveliness! Geisha, shinzō, and jesters fill the room, all guests of the moon.

Cleveland Museum of Art’s own description
Credit lineTsukasa and Other Courtesans of the Ogiya Watching the Autumn Moon Rise Over Rice Fields from a Balcony in the Yoshiwara, 1799. Katsushika Hokusai (Japanese, 1760–1849). Surimono; color woodblock print; sheet: 56.6 x 21 cm (22 5/16 x 8 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Mrs. Ralph King, 1943.4

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