#5 Subject: "Hot: the appearance of a housewife in the Bunsei era" Artist: Yoshitoshi (1839-1892) Publisher :? Censor seal: printed--March 10, 1888

" Hot: the appearance of a housewife in the Bunsei era" (1818-1830)

Atsu-so: Bunsei nenkan naishitsu no fuzoku This rather troubled lady is being treated with burning moxa. Small mounds of this slow-burning material have been applied to specific areas of her back. Moxibustion operates on principles similar to those of acupuncture, where points along the flow of life-force within the body are stimulated. Unlike acupuncture, moxibustion is painful and can leave scars like cigarette burns. A suffering woman is a peculiar subject for this series and its choice by Yoshitoshi, along with number 3 of the series, may indicate a certain covert sadism. The sensuality of this design would have been enhanced for Yoshitoshi's audience by exposure of the nape of the neck, which was considered an especially erotic part of the body. The polite term naishitsu, "inner chamber" has again been used in the title to indicate a well- to do housewife. The lady is bent over a writing desk. A complex burl pattern has been carved into the wooden printing blocks, a pleasing visual conceit, repeated in the title-cartouche of each design. She wears a sober outer robe with a small design of plum blossoms and buds. The colors of the replaceable collar of her undergarment have been delicately graded. This collar was called haneri and was chosen black marks on the comb indicate that it is made of expensive tortoise-shell rather then the more usual wood.¹

Printed: March 10, 1888 Engraved: Wada koku

1. From Yoshitoshi's Woman, John Stevenson Avery press 1986

© 2000 University of Kansas Medical Center Comments: clendening@kumc.edu Revised: May 15, 2000