Hokkoku Goshiki-zumi

Hokkoku Goshiki-zumi (北国五色墨, "Five Shades of Ink in the Northern Quarter") is a series of five ukiyo-e prints designed by the Japanese artist Utamaro and published in c. 1794–95.

The prints depict and contrast women who work in or near the exclusive pleasure district of Yoshiwara in the administrative capital of Edo (modern Tokyo).

Ukiyo-e art flourished in Japan during the Edo period from the 17th to 19th centuries, and took as its primary subjects courtesans, kabuki actors, and others associated with the "floating world" lifestyle of the pleasure districts.

[3] A prominent genre was bijin-ga ("pictures of beauties"), which depicted most often courtesans and geisha at leisure, and promoted the entertainments of the pleasure districts.

[5] Utamaro experimented with line, colour, and printing techniques to bring out subtle differences in the features, expressions, and backdrops of subjects from a wide variety of class and background.

[11] Each portrait is printed on a yellowish backgrounds; the series title appears in an inkstick-shaped caption in the corner, each of a different colour.

They were not subject to hari-mise[d]—the display of prostitutes for selection behind a grille that lower ranked prostitutes—but rather were called upon for the reception of guests at teahouses, and had their own kamuro[e] attendants.

[7] The kiri no musume has much plainer clothes than the high-ranked oiran, reflecting her lower station, and has a younger, more naïve-looking face.

With her left hand she holds together her black kasuri kimono, which is patterned with geometric shapes and edged with a tie-dyed red collar.

[12] Teppō (てっぽう, "rifle") refers to another type of prostitute who worked outside the walls of Yoshiwara and charged exceptionally low rates.

[14] The woman wears a red-lined light blue kimono pattern with small white chrysanthemums, with a purple collar.

She is decorated with ivy-leaf patterns on her kimono and hairpins, which indicates she likely worked for a house called Tsutaya (tsuta meaning "ivy").