The New York Public Library releases valuable ukiyo-e works and photographs

From mothers nursing their children, through merchant villages, to kimono-clad girls shining in the Kyoto night, these newly released Japanese works and photographs are simply stunning.

On 1 January 2016, the New York Public Library released more than 180,000 works with free public-use rights. Since we always long to be able to time-travel – especially to a place where people wear kimonos in everyday life – we dug into this forest of works, where we found beautiful things such as stories of rickshaw men, legendary sword pieces and extraordinary works.

▼ The complete woodblock print series Tōkaido Gojūsan Tsugi no Uchi (53 Stations of the Tokaido) by Hiroshige Andō (1797-1858) is the first thing one comes across.

There are many ukiyo-e woodblock prints by one of the most famous artists, Utamaro Kitagawa (1753?-1806). His best-known works are the bijin-ga (portraits of beautiful women), which became famous in Europe in the 1900s and had a great influence on the Impressionist artists of the time.

▼ Chichi (before nursing). “Chi chi” means “milk” or “breast” in Japanese.

▼ Kami yui (hairdresser)

▼ From the album Baika jô (Plum Blossoms) we can see some stunning works, created by Baikan Okada (1773-1849).

▼ One of the masters of ukiyo-e is Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849). The following picture (Lake Suwa, Shinano Province) belongs to his famous series “Thirty-six Views of Mount Fuji”.

Besides the beautiful works we also find photographs, which show various objects from Japanese culture and from people’s everyday lives.

▼ These printed pieces of fabric show the various patterns that decorated their clothing more than 100 years ago.

▼ Ornate hilt guards, which sat between the blade and the hilt.

▼ We also find a few pictures of kimonos, which were taken in 1911.

▼ Illustration of Costumes 2 (1908) shows various variations of the hakama (Japanese layered trousers for men) and the haori (Japanese kimono jacket).

▼ This photo got its name from the lyrics of a song in the famous musical The Mikado, “Three Little Maids From School Are We”.

▼ Odawara village in the 1870s. As a thriving village in the south of Kanagawa Prefecture, it sat on the Tokaido highway, which connected imperial Kyoto with the shogun’s capital, Edo (today’s Tokyo).

▼ Hakone village, likewise in Kanagawa Prefecture, in the 1870s.

The Imperial Government Railways published many, many photographs in the 1910s. The pictures show famous areas and places of interest. It is fascinating to see how much these well-known areas have changed over the years.

▼ Enoshima, the famous excursion spot near Tokyo.

▼ Fuji, height 3,776 metres.

▼ The main shrine of Ise. A beautiful example of archaic architectural style.

▼ The Daibutsu, otherwise known as the Giant Bronze Statue of Buddha, in Kamakura, a former feudal capital.

▼ The entrance of the Kasuga shrine and a group of sacred maidens in Nara.

▼ Kinkakuji (meaning “Golden Pavilion”), Kyoto. The villa of an early shogun.

▼ A cool summer afternoon on the Kamogawa in Kyoto.

▼ Dotonbori, a popular entertainment district in Osaka.

This little adventure particularly piqued our interest. We would point out that you should be careful, because with such a large collection – especially when it concerns a country like Japan – one is liable to get lost among the huge amount there is to look at.

Source: rocketnews24.com