The Descending Geese of the Koto Bridge (Kotoji no Rakugan)

Suzuki Harunobu, The Descending Geese of the Koto Bridge (Kotoji no Rakugan), "Eight Parlor Views (Zashiki hakkei)", c. 1766, woodblock, ink and color on paper, 28.1 x 21.2 cm

Included in his “Eight Parlor Views” series is Suzuki Harunobu’s “The Descending Geese of the Koto Bridge (Kotoji no Rakugan).” This woodblock depicts two courtesans situated in a room, one leisurely reading and the other taping her fingers to play the shamisen. The intricate hair styles and layering of colorful kimonos index high respectability for these women as courtesans. This print further illustrates the expectations of the feminine ideal and the ways in which courtesans are socialized in the narrowly defined universe of the Yoshiwara pleasure district. Youthful beauty, aesthetic sophistication, and artistic skill are core fundamental attributes to the feminine ideal, and it was the upmost responsibility of the courtesan to personify those concepts, therefore enacting as its seemingly perfect archetype. The depiction of courtesans through woodblock prints and paintings further perpetuate the notions of this feminine ideal and, through its accessible distribution to the chōnin class, pervaded the urban spaces of Edo Japan.