Saturday, 30 September 2017

83 - Hokusai: E-goyomi


Ukiyo-e. Hokusai. Surimono. E-goyomi.
Hokusai: E-goyomi

Hokusai, one of the greatest ukiyo-e masters, made this e-goyomi in January 1792.

The printing of calendars was a government monopoly in Japan. By that forbidden to create calendars, the ukiyo-e artists developed the subgenre of e-goyomi. Literally it means "calendar print" - but, not to violate the monopoly, they had to conceal the calendar in the picture in some clever way.