The Courtesan Miyo of the Izutsuya Brothel as a Tea Whisk Vendor, from the series Costume Parade of the Shimanouchi District in Osaka (Naniwa Shimanouchi nerimono, Hachitataki Izutsuya Miyo)

The Courtesan Miyo of the Izutsuya Brothel is playfully cross-dressed as an itinerant monk who collected alms by selling tea-whisks. The title specifically refers to Miyo in the guise of a hachitataki, which more broadly refers to a Buddhist mendicant who went door-to-door striking a bowl to beg for alms during the winter months. This print is from a series inspired by the summertime costume parades that were held annually in the Shinmachi brothel district of Osaka. Both Shinmachi, Osaka’s government-sanctioned brothel district, and Shimanouchi, a large unlicensed district to the southwest, hosted costume parades featuring teahouse waitresses, geiko (geisha), and courtesans performing skits or pantomimes of well-known figures (both female and male) from Japanese legend, literature, popular theater, and contemporary society. For another example by the Osaka-based print artist Shigeharu, see 2020.305.

For comparison, see also examples from a similar series created by Yanagawa Shigenobu (1787–1832), an Edo-based artist under whom Shigeharu briefly apprenticed: JP1217; JP1218; JP1281; 202.297; 2020.308; and 2020.309.