Women Representing the Four Social Classes (right)

This pair of scrolls depicts women of four social classes; samurai, peasant, merchant, and artisan. Starting on the right, the standing woman is a member of the samurai class. She is dressed in a red kimono with white flowers and patterned obi. The use of red dye in her clothing demonstrates her wealth and status, as red was the most expensive dye and sumptuary laws reserved its use exclusively for the upper class. Her hair is styled with flowers, demonstrating both her beauty and humble simplicity. The seated woman is a peasant. She is wearing a blue kimono with a plain brown obi. Her undergarments are red, an exception to sumptuary law, showing that she too has some degree of wealth. However, the fact that they are visible also shows her poverty, as she has only a single outer layer as opposed to the multiple layers of kimono worn by the samurai’s daughter. Her bare foot is shown, which shows she is too poor to have shoes, as well as being a somewhat vulgar gesture indicating her low class. Her hair is covered by a cloth, which implies she is engaged in some form of manual labor as confirmed by the basket to her right. On the left scroll is a standing woman who is a member of the merchant class. She is dressed in several layers of patterned clothing, including a red underlayer, and there is an ornate comb in her hair, all indications of her wealth. She holds some form of case, possibly containing wares to sell as an indication of her class. The seated woman is the daughter of an artisan. She appears similar to the merchant’s daughter, but with more colors and layers of clothing, showing she is wealthier. Her hair is more elaborately styled with a larger comb and she too has red undergarments. She is shown in the act of making a paper fan, her family’s vocation. Both the artisan and merchant’s daughters demonstrate the growing wealth of the middle class during this time, as they are more elaborately dressed than the samurai’s daughter despite being of lower status. However, the status of the samurai is still made clear by her red outer kimono, as sumptuary laws prevented the other women from wearing red on the outside.