Tsutaya Jūzaburo
-Publisher who Discovered Utamaro and Sharaku
Wednesday (holiday) 3 November to Sunday 19 December 2010

Tsutaya Jūzaburo, often called "Tsuta-jū," was the renowned publisher who discovered and developed Utamaro and Sharaku. Focusing on Tsutaya, this exhibition introduces works by the cultural and artistic talents who gathered around him, including Utamaro, Sharaku, Kyōden, and Nampo. Tsutaya cultivated friends and contacts in the Edo-Yoshiwara and Shibaimachi areas, and became very knowledgeable of these districts. Examples of Tsutaya publications exhibited here include works set in Edo-Yoshiwara and Shibaimachi, kyōka-ehon (illustrated books of humorous poem) that used his networks in Yoshiwara, Utamaro's bijinga (pictures of beautiful women), and Sharaku's yakusha-e (prints depicting actors). Through these exhibits, the exhibition also explicates some of the cultural networks involved in the two red-light districts.