Occasional Postcards (39)
〈Twelve Months of Minami, September (Fishing Fires)〉 Torii Kiyonaga, 1784, Collection of Chiba City Museum of Art
This is a room in a brothel built by the sea. The pleasure district located in Shinagawa, south of Edo Castle, was called "Minami." Although it was considered less prestigious than the Yoshiwara district to the north, it was loved for its open, seaside atmosphere. Three courtesans are spending their time on the tatami mats, each in their own way. Are the two of them looking at a letter that arrived from a client? Even from a distance, one can see that their feelings are densely written in small characters; one woman reads it intently, while the other looks on with a somewhat detached expression. Meanwhile, what is the woman gazing into the distance thinking about? Beyond the latticed window spreads the sea of Shinagawa. Fishing fires glow brightly in the darkness, and although there are thin clouds, the moon illuminates the opposite shore of the inlet.
This work is also known as the "Izayoi Moon" (the hesitating moon). Since the moon on the night after the full moon rises later, the term "izayoi" (the sixteenth night) carries the meaning of "hesitation." As she gazes at the late-rising moon, perhaps her heart is somewhere far away. Unable to return to the place she wants to go, and unable to meet the person she wants to see, she has no choice but to accept her current circumstances. Perhaps she is occasionally letting her heart wander like this, pretending to be on a journey.
Torii Kiyonaga was active as the fourth head of the prestigious Torii school of actor prints. In his "Twelve Months of Minami" series, drawn on large-format paper, he created a style of healthy, eight-head-tall beauties that had never been seen before. Did Kiyonaga once find himself struck by an expression that a courtesan revealed unconsciously like this? One can feel a sense of empathy in his brushwork, as if he is gauging the inner life of a woman. I found myself wanting to follow the gaze of her sorrowful eyes to see where they were directed.
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