Fukagawa Hachiman Shrine Battledore Festival (Fukagawa hachiman hagoitaichi)

Artist Koizumi Kishio

Printerprinted by Koizumi Kishio

DateDecember 1935

Mediumwoodblock print; ink and color on paper

Dimensions30.2 x 39.2 cm (11 7/8 x 15 7/16 in.)

ClassificationsPrints

Credit LineHarriet B. Bancroft Fund

Terms

Object number1998.68

DescriptionThe grounds of the Tomioka Hachiman shrine in Fukagawa was one of the five original parks established in Tokyo; it was by far the smallest. This shrine's great festival was held in August, but the festival of the Seven Gods of Good Luck was also held there, at the New Year.
Koizumi's bold primary colors create a festive mood; the color and his simplified figures still look modern to us now, at the end of the century. The warmly dressed customers at the stalls are buying battledores for the traditional New Year's game in which two players hit a shuttlecock back and forth. Battledores are customarily decorated with symbols of good luck-or of the New Year. As the print shows, ten years into the Sh6wa era the women are, for the most part, still attired in traditional kimono, while the men wear Western dress.

ProvenancePurchase from Geoffrey Oliver, East-West Gallery, 27 Main St., Victory, NY 14564

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