Japanese woodblock print or Ukiyo-e Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō – Fujieda
The 23rd print in the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi 東海道五十三次), called Tōkaidō with added poems (Kyōka iri Tōkaidō 狂歌入東海道). It shows 19 travellers crossing a river. The poem on the print reads: “Regardless of the colour of her lips, a young girl from Seto is selling rice snacks” (Shinshitsu Masumi). It contains several puns. It begins with kuchinashi 口なし, which is read as part of the phrase kuchinashi iro 口なし色 meaning gardenia-coloured lips. This is followed by an inscription for a young girl using a character for a younger sister, indicating that the girl doesn’t care about her appearance, but just wants to sell as many snacks as possible. It can be read as a hononym for the gardenia fruit kuchinashi 山梔子, and as such refers to someii 染飯, a snack of cooked rice to which gardenia fruit is added, turning it orange-yellow. ... more
The 23rd print in the Fifty-Three Stations of the Tōkaidō (Tōkaidō Gojūsan-tsugi 東海道五十三次), called Tōkaidō with added poems (Kyōka iri Tōkaidō 狂歌入東海道). It shows 19 travellers crossing a river. The poem on the print reads: “Regardless of the colour of her lips, a young girl from Seto is selling rice snacks” (Shinshitsu Masumi). It contains several puns. It begins with kuchinashi 口なし, which is read as part of the phrase kuchinashi iro 口なし色 meaning gardenia-coloured lips. This is followed by an inscription for a young girl using a character for a younger sister, indicating that the girl doesn’t care about her appearance, but just wants to sell as many snacks as possible. It can be read as a hononym for the gardenia fruit kuchinashi 山梔子, and as such refers to someii 染飯, a snack of cooked rice to which gardenia fruit is added, turning it orange-yellow. This snack is a speciality of the city of Seto 瀬戸. (KH, JR)
Do you have a comment or additional information about the subject?