It is Good to Take the First Bath

A woman with a handkerchief in her mouth, tying her sash (obi). Behind her hangs the towel with which she dried herself over a rack. With two poems, one is about the first bath of the new year. The prints from this series relate to the belief that the first activities of the new year were particularly special. The red cartouche on the prints refers to almanacs indicating which activities could or should not be undertaken on certain days by people born in a specific year.