Kunichika: Ukifune

Toyohara Kunichika Series; Fifty-four Modern Feelings (Matched with the Chapters of Genji), circa 1883 - 1884. Terrific woodblock from a series based on the 1828 novel "A False Murasaki's Country Genji," a parody of the famous "Tale of Genji." Kunichika has illustrated the chapters of the story with updated, modern beauties dressed in the contemporary fashions of the day. A winter view with a beauty holding an umbrella while approaching a boat along a dock. One of the nicest designs in the series.  Chapter 51, Ukifune, is one of the most frequently depicted scenes from the classic version of Genji Monogatari ('Tale of Genji'). This late chapter of the epic tale (with a total of fifty-four chapters) centers on the love triangle between Prince Niou (son of the Akashi emperor), Kaoru, (recognized as the son of Genji but is actually the son of Genji's wife the Third Princess and an affair with Kashiwagi), and Ukifune, the daughter of a governor who had a brief affair with Genji but is late