Utagawa Kunisada 歌川国貞 / Toyokuni III 三代歌川豊国 (1786–1865)
Contemporary Views of the Four Seasons
(Imayō shiki no nagame), vol. 1 of 4: Spring (Haru)
Japan, Edo period (1615–1868), c. 1827
Woodblock-printed book; ink and color on paper
Purchase, Richard Lane Collection, 2003
(2008.0602)

In this lavishly illustrated woodblock-printed book by Kunisada, a 19th-century man seduces his companion by showing her a copy of The Brushwood Fence Scroll (Koshibagaki-zōshi, c. 1172). The woman, shocked by the graphic nature of the handscroll, leans away in embarrassment.

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