National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Eishosai Choki is a unique ukiyo-e (a genre of paintings and woodblock prints developed from the Edo period to the early Meiji period) artist who established his own style by drawing gentle, friendly and beautiful women during the Kansei era (1789-1801) when bijinga (paintings depicting the beauty of women) by Kitagawa Utamaro and Chobunsai Eishi were popular. He changed his name from Choki to Shiko around 1795 and changed it back to Choki again in 1801. Most of his nishiki-e (multi-colored woodblock prints) were created during the Kansei era under the name of Choki, including those depicting kabuki actors in female roles and young geisha girls in Osaka and published by Tsutaya Juzaburo and Tsuruya Kiemon, publishers in Edo.
This print is one of the mica series of three-quarter figures that combines young geisha girls and nakai (waitress) in Osaka. The round hairstyle and the chignon of Fuseya, a young geisha girl, in oshidori style, a style with a bridge over a chignon that was popular in Kamigata (Kyoto and its surrounding areas) at that time, clearly represent the characteristics of the manners and customs in Kamigata. The long face and gentle look also seem to reflect the beauty of Kamigata.