Background:
Just across the canal north of Osaka's Dôtonbori (道頓堀) theater district was an area called Shimanouchi, where the city’s largest unofficial pleasure quarter could be found, and one of more than thirty such entertainment sections around the city. Shimanouchi hosted an annual parade early each summer featuring waitresses, geisha, and courtesans dressed in elaborate costumes and portraying, in skits or pantomimes, figures from contemporary society, theater, history, and legend. The women were accompanied by musicians and dancers. To assist them in their appreciation of the colorful displays, spectators could purchase inexpensive festival programs identifying each float.
Design:
This design is from the series Shimanouchi nerimono (Walking slowly in procession at Shimanouchi: 島の内ねり物), part of a group of prints designed by Sadahiro, Hokuei, Shigeharu, Sadanobu, and Hokuju. Here, Tora II holds a basket with herbs. Her kimono is imaginatively conceived, with the figure of Daruma on the hem.
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