"Various Himochi" Wagashi Festival Japanese Woodblock Print by Utagawa Toyokuni

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"Various Himochi" Wagashi Festival Japanese Woodblock Print by Utagawa Toyokuni

Rare oversized early 19th century 5-tiered woodblock by Utagawa Ichiyosai … Read more "Various Himochi" Wagashi Festival Japanese Woodblock Print by Utagawa Toyokuni

Rare oversized early 19th century 5-tiered woodblock by Utagawa Ichiyosai Toyokuni, (Japan, 1769-1825), a Japanese lord and wife oversee a sekku festival of food, music, and dolls or toys. '"oshi" is the first day of “Mi (Snake)” in the third month of the lunar calendar. This day, known in modern Japan as the Girls' Festival, originated in China as a form of purification ceremony in which water and drinking peach blossom wine were used to drive away evil. Many kinds of hishi-mochi appear in this picture of hina ningyo (dolls associated with Hinamatsuri, or the Girl’s Day) from Omochae.
The custom of eating special dishes at events throughout the year and at milestones in people's lives has existed since ancient times. This paragraph specifically focuses on the annual event called sekku, and life events that involve eating sweets. Joshi is the first day of “Mi (Snake)” in the third month of the lunar calendar. This day, known in modern Japan as the Girls' Festival, originated in China as a form of purification ceremony in which water and drinking peach blossom wine were used to drive away evil. According to the Keiso saijiki, in ancient China, on the third day of the third lunar month, people ate “ryuzetsuhan,” which is the juice of gogyo (Jersey cudweed) mixed with rice flour and nectar. In Japan, there is a record in the Heian period history book Nihon Montoku tenno jitsuroku [839-5] that it was an annual event to make kusamochi using gogyo on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar, which may have been influenced by Chinese customs.

The tradition of eating kusamochi on the third day of the third month of the lunar calendar continued after that. By the Edo period, however, hishimochi had come to be used as a sweet to serve on the third day of the third month. A picture of a hishimochi is included in the Morisada manko , which we mentioned in Part 1. According to it, hishimochi in the Edo period were often three layers of green-white-green instead of the now common red-white-green. However, it is possible to see from our collection that not all hishimochi were made in this way. Omochae published in 1857, is a good example. Omochae is a type of ukiyoe print which was designed for children to play with, and was popular from around the Ansei era (1854-1860) to the middle of the Meiji period. In this print, which was published close to the time of the compilation of Morisada manko, hishimochi are three layers of white-green-white. Some of the ukiyoe of the Girls’ Festival depict hishimochi in five layers of white-green-white-green-white, and this variety is interesting.


Artist's seal and signature in lower right corner is cut off. date sill center right.
Presented in a new white mat.
Frame size: 26.75"H x 21.75"W
Image size: 18.75"H x 13.25"W
(One uncommon type from this period, one which is easy to confuse with later seals, was used during the period 1815 to 1832, and includes a zodiacal date in the top part of an oval seal, along with an aratame character below.)

Third Period
In 1842, the whole system was reformed, and replaced by individual censors called Nanushi. They marked prints with their individual round seals, bearing characters from their names. During the period from 1842 to 1846, these seals are found singly (see sample illustration at right). There are roughly a dozen of these seals; for a beginner to tell if a seal on a print is one of them, it is necessary to check a table of them. With time, it becomes easy to tell if a single round seal is a nanushi seal, or some other kind. They are sometimes found with a zodiacal date seal and/or an aratame seal. 'Murata' seal, 1846
From 1847 to 1853, the Nanushi marked prints in pairs; these seals are usually directly next to each other, but on rare occasions they are separated. The fact that they are usually found next to one another makes them easy to recognize; in general, no other round seals come in pairs. An oval aratame seal is usually present during the period from 1848 to 1851. During the period 1852-1853, a zodiacal date seal is also present. See less